KidZania's interactive city optimizes visitor experience with Panasonic

The Japanese company has brought its self-service kiosk solutions to this Mexican children's theme park. He has been in charge of the design, support structure and image, as well as the touch monitor, card payment terminal, thermal receipt printer and RFID bracelet printer.

KidZania is an interactive theme park that has recently been inaugurated in Guadalajara (Mexico) and that sets its sights on the little ones. To improve the visitor experience, solutions have been implemented to streamline the ticket purchasing process and the delivery of identification bracelets for children and their adult companions.. The chosen option has been self-service digital kiosks integrated by Panasonic.

Of Mexican origin and with presence in more than 21 countries, KidZania is one of the fastest growing children's entertainment brands. The installation represents an interactive city for children of 1 a 14 years old and mix inspiration, fun and learning through role-playing activities. Children can explore it on a scale of more than 7.000 square meters of surface, where they experience about a hundred professions.

“KidZania Guadalajara is our newest park and represents the first model 4.0 of the concept of this small big interactive city. It is a much more digital and fun space, with renewed experiences for visitors”, says Eduardo Guevara, KidZania Global Chief Technology Officer.

As part of this new proposal, KidZania sought to optimize the audience's experience when purchasing their tickets. The main objective is to reduce waiting time through a 'line busting' system that is simple and efficient enough so that the public can choose their tickets., pay with credit or debit card, obtain your ticket and receive security bracelets that link the members of a family or group so that the identification or location of children is quick and accurate.

KidZania raised this need with the B2B Solutions group of Panasonic Mexico upon learning about the possibilities of the self-service kiosk solutions that the Japanese company has recently implemented in the fast food and retail sectors.

Panasonic developed a concept tailored to the needs of KidZania, integrating from design, structure and image of the kiosk, to the touch monitor, card payment terminal, thermal receipt printer and bracelet printer with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). The software and graphical user interface design were created by the KidZania team and incorporated into the Panasonic solution.

According to Darío Delgado, QSR and Retail New Business Development Manager at Panasonic, The kiosk project at KidZania Guadalajara had three integration phases.

The first focused on hardware, through the development, integration and consolidation of components according to customer specifications; the second, with the installation of the software developed by Kidzania; and the third, with the assembly of the kiosks, Panasonic Engineering Center testing and certification.

In the first stage of the project, It was decided to implement a solution with five self-service kiosk modules in KidZania Guadalajara.

RFID technology

When purchasing tickets, The system assigns a number to the transaction and a code that activates the RFID chip integrated into each bracelet. All bracelets from the same transaction form a group and share the same code, so each family or school group is easily identified through the radio frequency reading antennas (RF) installed throughout KidZania Guadalajara.

With the bracelets it is possible to control the access and exit of minors so that they do not do so without the company of authorized adults in their group.; or else, locate a minor who has been separated, since in each area of ​​the 'city' there are RFID reader antennas that help to precisely know the location of all visitors.. The use of RF technology offers great range, certainty in its operation and is not intrusive with visitors.

The system of identification bracelets and RFID reader antennas is developed by KidZania and is part of its preventive security strategy that is complemented by a video surveillance system, security personnel and the training received by collaborators in charge of customer service.

“One of our priorities is the safety of our visitors., does 20 "We started with the concept of a safety bracelet years ago to be sure that a minor who enters with a responsible adult will leave the park accompanied by the same person.", comments Eduardo Guevara.

“At KidZania Guadalajara we evolved the concept and now the bracelet has integrated information such as the visitor's name., if you are a member of our program or are part of a special activity. It is a more aesthetic device and generates a sense of belonging by showing the visitor's name.", says the head of Global Technology at KidZania.

Visitor data and identity are protected by the strict security regulations that KidZania has implemented in compliance with GDPR guidelines (General Data Protection Regulation) of the European Union.

Project expansion

By integrating the self-service digital kiosk solution, KidZania Guadalajara meets the three objectives set by the Global Technology team.

The first, offer better service to visitors by reducing waiting time when purchasing tickets. Second, begin the modernization process in customer service. Y, finally, Optimize operating costs by reorienting supervisory staff who were previously dedicated to ticket sales and now focus on a satisfactory visitor experience.
The KidZania team is working on defining the metrics to evaluate the performance of this solution.

Thanks to these first results, KidZania has decided that Panasonic integrates a similar solution, with eight self-service kiosk modules, the KidZania Dallas, a new center opening this fall at the Stonebriar Center in Frisco, Texas.