Here’s the Ticket!
I am a big fan of noticing and tracking new technologies and how they can be used in our industry and more importantly how they can affect our industry, both positively and negatively. Here is a brief summary of those that caught my eye over the past two months.
Chuck E Cheese Discontinues Virtual Ticket Blaster Experience with Oculus Rift Technology
Two months ago our industry was excited about Chuck E Cheese’s Virtual Ticket Blaster where players grab and collect ‘virtual tickets’ using the Rift head-mounted display developed by Oculus VR Technology. This was the first reported commercial use of the Oculus technology. Chuck E Cheese has discontinued the testing of this new game/attraction due to the possibility of children seizures or epileptic fits. The reason given by a CEC official was “It is just too high of a risk for injuries at this current juncture and we are not ready to take that kind of risk.”
What This Could Mean
This is obviously a setback but there are usually bumps in the road when a new technology is being tested. In this case Chuck E Cheese made the proper decision to pull the plug and discontinue testing if there was evidence of any possibility of seizures among young children. TRR does agree that virtual reality technology can have a place in our industry. Perhaps this particular application was not yet perfected but the technology is still good. TRR is hopeful that Oculus engineers will find a way to eliminate any possibility of seizures and others in our industry will make a 2nd attempt to work with this new technology when that time comes. Our hats are off to Chuck E Cheese for both making the 1st attempt and for pulling the plug once they discovered the possibility of seizures. We trust that both are noted well by the general public and Chuck E Cheese and our industry will benefit positively. Perhaps other developers of new technologies will think about our industry as a potential user and make contact or be open minded when they are approached by us.
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Mobile Payment Technologies
One of the mobile payment technologies that TRR has been following and reporting on is PayRange. The vending industry is once again taking the lead in testing several payment technologies PayRange permits people to use their iPhone or Android smartphones (with a special app) to pay for the vended product. The PayRange technology uses a Bluetooth network to actuate the vend. A simple dongle (costing about $50) is easily installed into a vending machine.
The good news (as just reported by Vending Times) is that PayRange has just received $2.75 million in funding from several well-known investors. The list includes “Nyca Partners, which includes Osama Bedier, former head of Google Payments; Hans Morris, former president of Visa; and Max Levchin, cofounder of PayPal; Google Ventures; Anil Aggarwal and Jonathan Weiner, founders of the Money 20/20 conference; Barbara Corcoran, one of the investors on ABC’s Shark Tank; serial entrepreneur and investor Phil Nadel; and Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto.”
What this could mean
This technology has been well tested in 20 states and is being distributed by Vistar that closely works with 95% of the vending machine companies in the U.S. It is reported that there are more than 10 million vending machines in the U.S. and 95% only take cash. Taking a look at who is involved in rolling out this new technology, there is a good chance that we will all have an opportunity to try it out. Assuming that it gets traction, it is important that the amusement industry follow this closely and at least as a first step to make sure that our bill changers and debit card kiosks are standardized to accept PayRange. Hopefully the new AAMA Standardization Committee will look into how amusement games can accept mobile payment technology.
There is another situation to consider. Soon merchants (that means FECs and game operators) will be responsible for fraud losses through credit card purchases if we do not have the most up to date credit card technology. That means that mag stripe will need to be updated to contactless and so on with the merchants paying for all the upgrades as they arise. This is a huge burden to put on merchants. Maybe all of this can be avoided through mobile payment technology where upgrades will be apps in most cases. I have not yet thought through what happens when your cell phone is stolen, but I have reported on technology that disables your cell phone when it is not within so many feet of you.
