UConn deploys tablet checkin at dining halls
The University of Connecticut’s Dining Services has introduced tablets at two of its dining facilities in an effort to make it easier to identify students swiping into the cafeterias, as well as expedite throughput at the door.
According to a report from The Daily Campus, the new tablets have been successfully deployed in two university dining halls, and crucially, allow for better facial recognition when students swipe into the dining facilities.
University officials say that the primary goal for introducing the tablets wasn’t to prevent students from using their card to swipe in others for free, but this has been an unexpected benefit since the launch of tablet system. “Unfortunately, students do pass cards even though they’re not supposed to,” said Dennis Pierce, Dining Services executive director, in a Daily Campus interview. “Having the tablet and a larger picture gives you an advantage for identification.”
The tablets are also effectively expediting the process of swiping students, as the larger image that appears on the tablet screen makes it easier for dining personnel to match the individual on the card to the one entering the dining hall.
Dining hall personnel are adapting to the new technology, and have reported being optimistic about the new hardware’s features. The photo identification capability makes it easier to identify students who are using incorrect IDs other than their own.
“I’ve had a lot of students in the past that I’ve taken IDs from because they used another student’s ID,” one dining employee said. “Since we’ve started using the tablets we’ve dramatically cut down on students using other IDs.”
