Displaying Virtual Art at Home Depot

Sun Microsystems and Apunix Computer Services have joined forces to develop a self-service kiosk appliance, "a store within a store," that promises to have a dramatic impact on the customer experience. Evviva Virtual Art Solutions is a leader in the art marketplace and is the first to leverage the new kiosk appliance to deliver a virtual shopping experience to Home Depot's Expo Design Center customers shopping for artwork. With Evviva' s Virtual Art Gallery running on the Apunix kiosk and powered by the Sun Cobalt Qube 3 server appliance, Home Depot's Expo Design Center can now offer customers an unlimited selection of art without having to invest in thousands of dollars of in-store inventory. Developers of innovative touch screen interactive multimedia informational systems for more than twenty years, Apunix's kiosks are affordable, easily managed information portals that assist users by delivering easy access to information, including directions, instructions, entertainment, sales transaction and e-commerce applications. As a participant in the Sun Partner Advantage Program, which combines Sun systems, software, services, and leading partners to create best-in-class solutions, Apunix prefers to deploy its kiosk solutions on the Sun platform. " We know that having Sun technology at the heart of our solution ensures a high level of reliability in the most costeffective package possible," says Sylvia Berens, vice president at Apunix. "Our customers are also excited about our relationship with Sun because of the obvious performance advantages." Apunix leverages the power of Java technology to build solutions that offer cross-platform compatibility and independence. As a result, Apunix's kiosks can run on multiple operating systems and hardware, including thin client, PDA, workstation or server technology.

Driven to increase sales in the most cost-effective way possible, leading retailers are constantly seeking innovative ways to improve customer service and maintain a competitive advantage. For many retailers, self-service technology is the answer, offering customers a unique, hassle-free and fast way to serve themselves, with little in-store overhead and investment required.

Sun Microsystems and Apunix Computer Services have joined forces to develop a self-service kiosk appliance, 'a store within a store,' that promises to have a dramatic impact on the customer experience. Evviva Virtual Art Solutions, a leader in the art marketplace, is the first to leverage the new kiosk appliance to deliver a virtual shopping experience to Home Depot's Expo Design Center customers shopping for artwork. With Evviva's Virtual Art Gallery running on the Apunix kiosk and powered by the Sun Cobalt Qube3 server appliance, Home Depot' s Expo Design Center can now offer customers an unlimited selection of art without having to invest in thousands of dollars of in-store inventory.

Partners in State-of-the Art Kiosk Technology

Developers of innovative touch screen interactive multimedia informational systems for more than twenty years, Apunix's kiosks are affordable, easily managed information portals that assist users by delivering easy access to information, including directions, instructions, entertainment, sales transaction and e-commerce applications. As a participant in the Sun Sun Partner Advantage Program, which combines Sunsystems, software, services, and leading partners to create best-in-class solutions, Apunix prefers to deploy its kiosk solutions on the Sun platform. " We know that having Sun technology at the heart of our solution ensures a high level of reliability in the most costeffective package possible," says Sylvia Berens, vice president at Apunix. "Our customers are also excited about our relationship with Sun because of the obvious performance advantages."

The Power of Java Technology

Apunix has led the kiosk industry with many firsts, including developing the first user-configurable kiosk for the Javatechnology platform. Apunix leverages the power of Java technology to build solutions that offer cross-platform compatibility and independence. As a result, Apunix' s kiosks can run on multiple operating systems and hardware, including thin client, PDA, workstation or server technology. "Written in Java technology, our kiosks are also highly scalable, further protecting our customers' technology investments to reduce the cost of deployment and maintenance," explains Berens.

The Java technology advantage also helps Apunix deliver a more robust and reliable product. "Because of our Java technology-based approach to kiosk design, our customers can go years without having to reboot or reset our systems," notes Berens. Java technology also expedites the application development cycle, allowing Apunix to add new devices and capabilities to its kiosk solutions in a fraction of the time otherwise required. "We developed our first kiosk using Java technology in only six months and can add new functionality in a matter of days."

In fact, keeping kiosks updated and current, as well as up and running, is critical to the success of a kiosk deployment. With Apunix's kiosk software written in the Java programming language, content can be dynamically configured rather than hardcoded, making updates and changes easy and inexpensive to perform. In addition, the JDBCtechnology provides reliable, fast access to a wide range of databases, which is key to the success of Apunix kiosks. " By using Java technology, we can develop kiosks that are graphically and functionally rich, making them dynamic and inviting for users," notes Berens.

A Self-Service Store within a Store

Evviva Virtual Art Solutions deployed its virtual art gallery on the Apunix kiosk and Sun Cobalt Qube server appliance to successfully and cost-effectively deliver rich content in an easy to access, deploy and maintain solution that also offers exceptional performance and reliability. "Our market expertise combined with the outstanding technology offered from Apunix and Sun allows us to deliver a new and innovative customer service solution to Home Depot's Expo Design Center," says Michael Bivins, partner at Evviva Virtual Art Solutions.

As one of the first retailers to implement the 'store within a store' concept, Home Depot's Expo Design Center can now provide unlimited art choices to its customers by leveraging Evviva's extensive database of artwork, without having to make a major inventory investment. "The retailer can also provide an efficient, hassle-free and fun shopping experience to customers looking for gallery-quality works of art," explains Bivins. "As more databases are added to the in-store Sun Cobalt Qube server, Home Depot's Expo Design Center will also be able to offer new products in the same virtual format, including carpets, draperies and other home furnishings."

Unlike traditional online catalog kiosks, the combined Evviva, Apunix and Sun solution is unique because it actually consists of two thin client kiosk appliances—one with a 15-inch Elo LCD touch screen that allows users to navigate the product database and the other, which drives a Pioneer 52-inch plasma screen that presents the selected item in full size for the shopper to see and interact with. A Lexmark color printer connected to the Olea-designed kiosk prints out the final selection, which can be taken to the service desk for purchase. The two Apunix kiosks are connected to a Sun Cobalt Qube 3 server appliance, which acts as the database server, content server and gateway device for the kiosks.

The Cobalt Qube 3 Advantage

According to Apunix, the Sun Cobalt Qube 3 server appliance is the ideal server for an in-store kiosk for many reasons, not the least of which is its exceptional reliability. "In the retail space, reliability is a top requirement for any technology deployment that affects customer service and business processes— kiosks are no exception," explains Berens. The Sun Cobalt Qube 3 appliance includes internal RAID 1 mirrored disks to protect customers from disk failures and is reinforced with enhanced backup and restore mechanisms to further ensure system reliability.

Another key requirement for a successful in-store kiosk deployment is ease-of use. As an appliance-based server, the Sun Cobalt Qube 3 is truly plug and play, offering customers a keyboardless installation that can be done in minutes. With its intuitive Web-based configuration and control, non-technical users can quickly and easily manage server installation and maintenance. "Because of its simple, appliance-based configuration, we were able to install the Cobalt Qube 3 in the Dallas Home Depot's Expo Design Center in only 20 minutes," says Berens. "As an easyto- use and highly reliable server appliance, the Cobalt Qube also reduces overall cost of ownership for our customers who don't have to invest heavily in systems management resources."

By delivering a kiosk solution that is easy to deploy, use and manage with little expertise, Apunix customers require little Sun training or support. "The whole idea behind Sun's Cobalt Qube 3 appliance is that it is truly plug and play," says Berens. "The only way to ensure volume in the retail market is to deliver solutions that require little expertise. Sun helps us deliver on this expectation."

Retailers are also attracted to the Cobalt Qube server appliance because of its low purchase price and small footprint, which further lower operational costs and overhead by reducing floor space requirements. With its high performance hardware architecture and optimized software platform, the Cobalt Qube 3 can easily scale to handle over 150 kiosks, POS terminals and other devices in the store and can be completely managed and updated from Home Depot's Expo Design Center's corporate headquarters using a secure Web browser interface. "When Evviva asked us to design a virtual art gallery solution for Home Depot's Expo Design Centers, we immediately turned to Sun for its server and Java technology to deliver the most powerful and user friendly kiosk possible," says Berens.

New Markets for Retailers

The ease of installing the appliance-based kiosks and the power to customize content to each region opens up new opportunities for retailers. The Sun technology supports high-performance, high-availability kiosks that can be managed successfully from remote locations, enabling stores to update products and services to match customers' ever-changing demands. As a result, stores with locations nationwide can easily offer products tailored to the interests of people in the region. For instance, without increasing inventory and all the associated costs, a store can offer customers in the Southwestern U.S. a vastly different selection of art than customers living in the Northeastern U.S.

Consumers benefit as well from the freedom to buy gallery-quality art at more affordable prices. Users of the kiosks can search art by styles and periods, colors, artists, and by a number of other criteria. "The Apunix kiosks built on powerful, scalable Sun technology opens up new opportunities for consumers and retailers alike. Consumers can quickly find art that fits their tastes and lifestyles, while retailers can deliver outstanding service and selection without the burden of extremely high inventory and staffing costs," explains Bivins from Evviva.

Revolutionizing Retail for Everyone

In partnership with Sun, Apunix has developed a kiosk solution that can run on any platform or device, extending its functionality beyond the kiosk itself to mobile devices such as handheld computers, dramatically improving customer service across any retail store. Retailers can also extend the self-service concept to employees by deploying kiosks for HR and corporate communications purposes. "With Sun's Java technology and the performance, reliability and scalability of the Cobalt Qube 3 appliance, we can deliver a dynamic and versatile customer self-service solution that will no doubt revolutionize the way retailers do business," concludes Berens.