Innovative Technology Americas reported a successful visit to NRF 2023 – Retail’s Big Show organized by the National Retail Federation at the Javits Convention Center in New York last week. 

Commenting on their participation, Rebecca White, VP Sales & Business Development for Innovative Technology’s US operations said, “We kicked off our retail show calendar for 2023 with a successful NRF exhibition. It was great to see a return to normal attendee levels, like pre-pandemic times, with high quality retail visitors.”

Rebecca continued, “Our new NV4000 Spectral was undoubtedly the star of the show.  We designed this high performance, large volume mixed bill recycler specifically for the retailer to accelerate customer throughput. This is the most technically advanced but cost-effective bill recycler in its class. With a large cashbox and recycling capacity of up to 420 bills, this solution ensures fewer refills to increase staff efficiency.  Also popular on the booth was the Twin SMART Coin System (SCS), our high-volume, multi-denomination coin recycler.  Using this alongside the NV4000 Spectral, we can now offer the retail industry a long-awaited, affordable solution for high volume applications for both bills and coins and NRF visitors were really impressed!”

Innovative Technology Americas had their range of biometric solutions for facial age estimation and access control on their booth for visitors to demo.

Rebecca added, “Interest in biometric technology is growing so we wanted to show how international retailers at NRF could benefit from our solutions. With self-serve kiosks on the rise globally not only will our cost-effective payment solutions gain momentum, but automated age checks may also play a part and the team reported some positive conversations with potential partners to explore.  Some retailers were also keen to hear how our biometrics solutions could potentially assist with data collection in terms of demographics and how this can be used to improve the customer journey and experience.”

Concluding Rebecca said, “The US is a significant market for us and represents a huge area of growth especially in the retail sector. We have recently opened a new sales and support office in Atlanta to serve a wider range of customers and have also rebooked NRF for next year, proving our commitment to continued expansion in the region.”

Innovative Technology plan to have their latest biometrics and cash validation solutions centre stage on stand N1-420 on 7-9 February 2023 at ExCel London. ICE London takes place over three days in the capital for global gaming professionals to discover the latest technology solutions available to the industry.

Commenting on ITL’s involvement, Marcus Tiedt, Sales & Marketing Director said, “ICE is one of the biggest gaming shows in the world and provides an ideal platform for us to preview new and exciting products to the evolving gaming market. This year we will focus on showing ICE visitors the advantages of using biometric technology for age estimation and access control in a gaming setting, as well as showcasing our latest cash validators and recyclers.”

Marcus continued, “We are in our usual location in Hall N1, positioned right next to the Consumer Protection Zone, so ideally placed to give live demos of our biometrics technology range which can be used to help combat underage gambling and ensure player protection.  The team will show how easy it is to integrate our solutions into existing machines, or even use as a standalone device. Our range including MyCheckr, MyCheckr ^Mini, ICU Lite and ICU Pro, assists Operators with their social responsibility to prevent minors from accessing age restricted gaming machines and to exclude access to amusement and gaming venues when installed at entrances or restricted areas. With world leading accuracy, no recurring costs, no internet required, unique anti-spoof technology and GDPR certification, our solutions make biometric technology available, practical and affordable for all.”

Commenting on ITL’s traditional cash handling side of the business, Marcus continued, “Visitors can also demo our new NV4000 Spectral high-volume banknote recycler which is designed to help move customers seamlessly through the payment process quickly.  Due to its large recycling capacity, it means fewer refills, improved machine uptime and a reduction in service calls. The team will also show visitors the advantages of the Spectral Payout for mixed denomination note recycling at fast speeds.  Installing this unit in conjunction with the SMART Coin System (SCS) – a multi-denomination coin recycler, works perfectly with the Spectral Payout to give fast recycling for both notes and coins.

“Marcus concluded, “We’re proud to have been able to deliver to our customers throughout both the pandemic and global electronics shortage. ICE is a fantastic opportunity to meet again face to face and we look forward to many productive networking opportunities. Make sure you come and check out our latest biometrics solutions to help comply with underage gambling regulations to safeguard children, and see how our cash handling solutions can help you achieve efficiencies throughout your business.”

Liberty’s Gin Bar in Warrington has deployed an age estimation device developed by Oldham-based Innovative Technology Ltd to assist with age checks.  MyCheckr is an all-in-one device that performs anonymous age estimation, to aid with the sale of age restricted goods such as alcohol, tobacco and vapes.

Ken, owner and bar manager said, “We decided to try MyCheckr to help our younger bar staff members who aren’t always confident in asking customers for ID.  Ensuring that underage customers are prevented from buying alcohol is essential, so anything to assist our staff is welcomed. Quite often underage customers will come into the pub, not to buy alcohol initially, but to build relationships with the staff and then attempt to purchase alcohol at a later visit. This device not only gives staff confidence to ask new customers for ID, but automatically highlights anyone who appears underage too.”

Commenting on the install, Chris Wright, ITL UK Business Development Manager said, “MyCheckr is a simple, affordable solution that helps the server make informed decisions during the age check process. With no integration required, setup was quick and easy for Liberty’s Gin Bar and results are instantly available to staff, as processing is performed locally on the device.  The unit clearly shows the server if a manual ID check is recommended. Turning green if the customer passes the age check, and red if they appear underage - making it a useful aid to help reduce potential confrontation when challenging customers for ID.  Another advantage is that no images or data are stored, and the device has been GDPR certified by Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS). With the help of our UK distributor, Chris Woodall from CC Dynamic, we have delivered a successful install, and as a result Liberty’s are keen to work with Chris to introduce further solutions to their business to drive efficiencies.”

Commenting on the install, Chris Woodall, Co-Founder of CC Dynamic said, “It is exciting to partner and work on a project with Innovative Technology that really adds value and delivers efficiencies to a business. One of the biggest causes of arguments and in some cases violence, is when proof of age is requested. MyCheckr helps take the stress away from bar staff by using reliable and proven technology, that is simple to use and install with very little training required.”

Concluding Ken said, “Our customers have reacted positively to the technology, and we have had no complaints at all.  Bar staff feel 100% more confident, especially the younger members who can be reluctant to ask people who are a similar age to them for ID. It is now company policy that all customers must present themselves in front of the device for an ID check unless they are known to us, enabling us to adhere to age check regulations and our licencing obligations.”

By Dr Andrew O’Brien, Biometrics Product Manager

Home Office Sandbox Pilot
Last year, we successfully trialled our age estimation technology at several Bestway stores as part of UK Home Office pilot scheme. The trial ran from February 2022 to 31 May 2022, and our technology was used to help Bestway abide by the law currently in place to prevent alcohol being mis-sold to anyone underage.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport published its findings from the regulatory sandbox trial at the end of 2022.  The overall indication from the sandbox pilot and uptake of age estimation technology suggests that there is a keen appetite for such technology. The work is an important step to further understand what needs to be in place to successfully embed age verification technologies into existing monitoring and enforcement licensing rules.

Innovative Technology’s age estimation technology in action
During the trial, the age of all shoppers was checked using our age estimation technology. Our standalone hardware unit assessed a customer’s age from their facial features. The device clearly shows the till operator if a manual ID check is recommended. The LED turns green if the person in front of the camera is 25 or over and red if the person’s age is estimated to be under 25, prompting the till operator to check ID.  It is designed to be a guide for the till operator to help retailers make more informed judgments in this vital decision-making process.

The results
The results were positive and welcoming towards this emerging technology. An impressive 70% of staff thought the device guided them when estimating age, with over three quarters of those questioned reporting it as a deterrent for under 18s from trying to buy alcohol in the first place. Over half those staff questioned at the start of the trial stated that they had suffered some level of abuse when asking for ID in the past, but a notable 62% said that they believed that the technology helped prevent confrontation during the trial. At the end of the pilot our stats showed that over 75% said they would like to continue using the technology and as a result we still have our age estimation devices working in several Bestway stores, as well as in various other retail outlets.

Why choose us?
The beauty of our age estimation technology is that have built and trained our own algorithms, rather than use publicly available databases, to give a highly secure, unbiased, completely offline and fast anonymous age estimation solution. The technology has the highest accuracy of any independently tested solution and was the first to gain GDPR certification from the Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS).  And for those businesses who may be worried about the cost of implementing a technology still in its infancy, we provide unlimited age checks for a one-off fee making this technology affordable to all.

Following the trial..
Since the 2022 convenience store trials, we have continued to invest in our age estimation technology.  Feedback from our participation in the pilot led directly to the development of our latest age estimation device – MyCheckr, an all-in-one unit that performs anonymous age estimation. We have also implemented technology upgrades such as the roll-out of our unique fraud detection technique across all our biometric products. This in-house, bespoke Presentation Attack Detection or PAD guarantees spoof-detection for those trying to trick the system using photographs or videos.

Find our more…
Feel free to contact me at Этот адрес электронной почты защищен от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра. or visit https://www.intelligent-identification.com for more information.