Unusual applications

for kiosks

Annette Walker MBE

Annette Walker MBE founded Elephant Kiosks in 2005 with the aim of designing and manufacturing inclusive, accessible and attractive touchscreen kiosks and units that would appeal to all user groups, regardless of technical know-how or physical barriers.

Previously Annette had founded Opportunity Links, a Social Enterprise specialising in the delivery of information to families through as many delivery channels as possible. It was through this work, which eventually became national, that Annette received an MBE in 2002.

The only limit is your imagination.

Unusual applications for kiosks.

by Annette Walker

dog using a kiosk

Most of our customers use our kiosks for standard industry applications such as surveys, patient check-in and information delivery. You’ve probably seen them in hospitals, schools, libraries, shops and other busy places. However our customers are increasingly coming up with new ways to use our kiosks, putting them in more outlandish places with fresh new applications.

The national signposting charity StartHere use our kiosks in Age Concern centres, prisons and deprived estates to direct people to support organisations and as a way of introducing technology to those previously without the skills, experience or confidence to use it.

Watch an NHS Choices video about EleKiosks being used at The Panjabi Centre.


Animal welfare charity The Blue Cross regularly use our kiosks at shows and events such as Crufts and Discover Dogs. Visitors can play games, take quizzes and search for pets to adopt.

Other unusual locations include football clubs, The Balmoral Show, Partyworld, interactive museum exhibitions and holiday resorts, while our handheld tablets are being used out and about in The Gambia by the Medical Research Council.


Some of the more unusual requests

  • Interactive menus and restaurant booking
  • Excursion sales
  • Audio, video and symbol based surveys
  • Multimedia messaging
  • Online shopping
  • Language identification
  • Memory games
  • Interactive maps
  • Social networking tool for older people
  • A pretend internet kiosk for a group not allowed access to the internet (weird, but true!)

It seems our kiosks can be used for things we haven’t even thought of, so please keep the ideas coming! We look forward to creating more inventive applications this year – watch this space.

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