An iPad kiosk has been set up at the Hamilton campus to assist visitors.

Brock University’s Hamilton campus can now be easily navigated with a swipe of the finger.

A new iPad kiosk has been set up at the campus, home to some departments in the Faculty of Education, allowing students, faculty, staff and visitors to quickly access important information. The kiosk features a live schedule linked into the Hamilton room-booking system, a campus map and campus directory.

“The schedule should help all users of the campus figure out where a meeting, class or event is taking place, but the directory and the map are most useful to new or infrequent visitors to the campus,” said Kyle Tuck, systems administrator and technician.

Initiated by the faculty’s computer services department, the project began to develop and evolve with some added inspiration coming from an unlikely place: a contest entry kiosk at a shopping mall with a system driven by an iPad.

Tuck then searched for and tested a few iPad kiosk apps, finding one easily configured to use with a predefined URL. An app and mounting hardware prevents people from using the kiosk as a personal device.

With one kiosk in place, funded by Fiona Blaikie, Dean of the faculty, there are plans to install a second unit at the south entrance of the campus. Depending on how well the kiosks are used and feedback, kiosks may be added at each entrance.

Computer services will also evaluate the possibility of installing the kiosks for the faculty at the St. Catharines campus.

“It is a much larger campus and could really help new students and visitors find their way around,” he said.