The present invention relates to kiosks, and in particular to electronic kiosks for use in retail environments.

One of the most significant trends in consumer electronics is the rapid switch from conventional photography to digital photography. One of the disadvantages of digital photography is the need for users to print the pictures that they have taken. Conventionally, users may print their own pictures, or take a disc or memory card to a photographic developer, who will print the desired pictures. The disadvantage of users printing their own pictures is that consumer ink jets tend to have an inferior print quality to that that can be obtained from print developers. A disadvantage of using photographic developers to print out digital photos is that the printing process takes a number of hours, or even days.

A further option has been introduced for digital photographers, in which a memory card or CD can be inserted into the kiosk which then prints a number of selected images. The printed photographs are delivered to the user within a few seconds or minutes. One of the problems that has been observed with these kiosks is that some users have problems in correctly navigating the user interface of the kiosk. For example, some users have found it difficult to select the photographs that are to be printed or to change the number of copies that are to be printed of each photograph.

Typically such kiosks are found in retail shops and are supplied by a different company to the retailer that is operating the shop. Typically it is not feasible for the supplier of the kiosk to provide trained staff to assist users of the kiosk for economic reasons. Whilst it is possible for the kiosk supplier to train some of the employees of the retailer, this is not always possible as time spent by these employees in assisting users of the kiosk will be time lost from selling the products and/or services offered by the retailer.

Furthermore, similar kiosks are also in use within retail stores to provide other services and/or products to users, for example refilling of ink-jet printer cartridges, printing business cards, top-up of mobile phone credit, etc. It has also been observed that users of such kiosks can encounter difficulties with the operation of such kiosks.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a kiosk comprising control means, display means, user interface means the kiosk being connected to a communications network, wherein, in use, the kiosk establishes a communication session with a terminal connected to the communications network, the communication session enabling communication between a kiosk user and a terminal operator.

It is preferred that the communication session enables voice communication between the kiosk user and a terminal operator and it is further preferred that the communication session comprises a voice over IP communication session. Alternatively, the communication session enables text-based communication between the kiosk user and the terminal operator. The kiosk may further comprise a text to speech converter for generating speech signals in response.

In one embodiment of the invention, the kiosk comprises a photograph printing kiosk. In a second embodiment of the invention, the kiosk comprises an ink-jet printer cartridge refilling kiosk.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following Figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic depiction of a conventional kiosk; Figure 2 shows a schematic depiction of a kiosk according to a first embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 3 shows a schematic depiction of a kiosk according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a schematic depiction of a conventional kiosk 10 which comprises control means 20, memory means 30, storage means 40, user interface means 50, display means 60, printer means 70, for example a dye sublimation printer, means for receiving payments 80 and means for receiving memory storage media and/or devices 90. All of these components are inter-connected to enable the functioning of the kiosk. The kiosk is connected to a central server 200 by communications link 100.

The kiosk may be, for example, a kiosk for printing digital photographs from memory storage media and/or devices. A user will insert for example, a CD-R or a memory card into the memory storage media receiving means 90. The kiosk will display some or all of the images stored in the memory storage device on the display means 60 and the user selects one or more images for printing using the user interface means 50. Once the user has selected the desired images and the number of prints required of each then a print command can be selected using the user interface means. The kiosk will prompt the user for payment, which can be made by inserting cash and/or a payment card into the means for receiving payments 80. If a debit or credit card is inserted then the card may be authorised by the kiosk, via the central server 200. The requested images will then be printed using the printer means 70. The operation of the kiosk and the inter-operation of the different kiosk components is controlled by computer software that is stored in the storage means 40 and is executed using the control means 20 and the memory means 30.

The kiosk is in communication with central server 200 via communications link 100. Typically, the communications link 100 comprises a DSL (digital subscriber line) link as this avoids the need to make a network connection when a card authorisation is being made. In addition to card authorisation processes, the kiosk can report levels of consumables (paper, ink, etc.), report sales & usage information, report faults, to the server, which enables repair and maintenance

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activities to be initiated or scheduled. It will be understood that a server may be used to monitor the state and activity of a number of different kiosks.

Figure 2 shows a schematic depiction of a kiosk 150 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The kiosk has a number of similarities to the kiosk described above with reference to Figure 1 and comprises control means 20, memory means 30, storage means 40, user interface means 50, display means 60, printer means 70, means for receiving payments 80 and means for receiving memory storage media and/or devices 90. The kiosk 150 according to the present invention additionally comprises loudspeakers 110 and microphone 120. The loudspeakers 110 and the microphone 120 are connected to the control means 20 and the other kiosk components. The communications link 100 comprises a DSL link, or a similar high-speed, always on network link.

The kiosk 150 according to the present invention also comprise additional software that enables voice over IP (VoIP) packets (sometimes referred to as internet telephony) to be sent and received to the server 200, via the communications link 150. The server 200 will be similarly configured such that a VoIP session can be established between the kiosk 150 and the server 200, or alternatively the VoIP packets can be forwarded to a separate VoIP terminal 250. .

Thus, in the event that a kiosk user encounters a problem with the operation of the kiosk, the user interface means may be used to initiate a VoIP conversation with a help desk operative. The operative can provide feedback and/or guidance to the user of the kiosk such that the desired images can be successfully printed. As the communications link is a DSL link (or equivalent), the VoIP session can be supported without effecting any other communications being carried over the communications link. The software that controls the kiosk may monitor the progress of a user and if it appears that the user is encountering difficulties with the operation of the kiosk, a prompt may be provided to the user asking them if they wish to be connected to a help desk operative. Alternatively, a VoIP

connection may be established in the event that it is determined that the user is experiencing difficulties.

In an alternative embodiment, it is possible that the user interface comprises a keyboard so that instant messages or emails can be used to provide communication between the kiosk user and a help desk operative. A text to speech (TTS) converter may be provided in the kiosk such that received messages comprising text can be converted into speech and played through the loudspeakers. The kiosk may additionally comprise an inductive loop to assist kiosk users who have hearing impairments.

Figure 3 shows a schematic depiction of a kiosk 150' according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The kiosk has a number of similarities to the kiosk described above with reference to Figure 2 and comprises control means 20, memory means 30, storage means 40, user interface means 50, display means 60, printer means 70, and means for receiving payments 80. The kiosk 150' shown in Figure 3 is for refilling ink jet printer cartridges and further comprises receiving means 95 for receiving an ink jet printer cartridge, one or more ink tanks 105 and a filing means that can engage with the received ink jet cartridge and can transfer ink from one or more of the ink tanks into the received ink jet cartridge. The kiosk 150 according to the present invention additionally comprises loudspeakers 110 and microphone 120. The loudspeakers 110 and the microphone 120 are connected to the control means 20 and the other kiosk components. The communications link 100 comprises a DSL link, or a similar high-speed, always on network link.

The kiosk is preferably able to receive ink jet cartridges from a number of different printer manufacturers. This may require the kiosk to comprise one or more different receiving means, or a single receiving means may be bale to receive all of the cartridges that are supported by the kiosk. The kiosk may be able to detect the type of cartridge that is received and prompt the user to confirm this. Alternatively the kiosk may rely on the user to enter the identity of the cartridge.

This information is then used to select the ink(s) that are needed to refill the cartridge and the method that is required to carry out the refilling. The ink held in the ink tanks may be designed for the printers of a particular manufacturer, in which case a number of sets of tanks may be required. Alternatively, different inks may be prepared on demand by mixing a base ink with additional colourants and/or additives.

It will be readily understood that the present invention could readily be adapted for use with any other kiosk or remote vending machine for example, food and beverage vending kiosks, photographic kiosks, etc. If a kiosk can not be altered in line with the teaching of the present invention by the addition of VoIP software then it is a relatively simple matter to provide additional hardware to support such software.