TOUCH-LESS GAMING
sensors is just one example of how flexible our technology is: there are so many additional ways we can leverage our button functionality.
CI: Are the opportunities that are coming available to you largely in North America? CL: Although our initial focus is North America simply because of proximity, our buttons have global relevance and opportunity. And, we’re looking at both land and sea-based casinos because the cruise ship industry has been very hard hit by all this, and we believe we have the opportunity to help there also. We’ve been talking to North American operators, including one in Las Vegas, and are taking positive steps forward all the time. To help extend awareness of our technology, we’re also planning to take part in some of the upcoming international and domestic trade exhibitions, and we’ve been part of ICE’s “Pitch ICE” entrepreneurial competition.
CI: It’s mind-blowing that in less than 18 months you have a product that is fi t for market, but I guess it probably helped not having to get GLI certifi cation and that kind of thing? CL: Well, to move forward in North America we did get GLI tested even though we are really just a replacement part. We felt that having our technology vetted by an industry lab was a critical part of the development process. People need escapism and we need to remember we are
talking about people’s lives as well – places want to open back up and stay open. But we realised we needed to both be diligent and also run as fast as we could to get this ready. That’s where my consultants have come in to play. Now we are looking to the next step, a round of fundraising – and then expanding our operations.
CI: How long would it take an operator to switch out the existing button panel and replace it with Touch- LESS buttons? CL: Less than fi ve minutes on average. We’ve made our solution easy to install, keeping machine downtime to a minimum.
CI: What does a button cost? CL: It’s important to me to bring this technology to market in a fl exible way that encourages widespread adoption: we can sell directly to operators, we can go through distributors, or we can go directly to manufacturers and negotiate a technology licensing agreement. But it’s so important for this to remain affordable, and a simple analogue button can range from $5 to $80 a button. Of course, numerous factors affect our pricing, including quantity and long-term commitment, but at a basic level we are not an $80 per button manufacturer and believe our solution is affordable. We want to be a touchless solution that is both easy to implement and affordable, especially now where operators are still recovering from lost revenue after being shut down for so long. We’re not the most expensive buttons, but we are also not a simple plastic part – we are 21 parts on a PCB that has to be assembled and put into a mould, and there are costs associated with that.
If you’re a smaller casino and you’re not able to buy the
latest machines with the latest technology, or it’s just not the right time in your replacement cycle, these buttons are still cost-effective and well within your reach, and that’s important to us as a company, to be accessible and to be available to the whole industry.
CI: With some evidence now suggesting that disease transmission via surfaces is minimal, has the urgency for a solution like this passed? Or is the selling point hygiene rather than COVID? Is that selling point strong enough to take this where you want it to go? CL: The CDC has ruled that Covid-19 is not likely to be transmitted via surfaces, however casinos are different in that casino players often smoke and/or drink and therefore are constantly touching their mouths (saliva) and then the buttons, repeat, and then the next play sits right down and touches that surface. The infectious disease doctors and pulmonary doctors I have consulted with said that it would be a general truism that it is ALWAYS better NOT to touch than to touch when it comes to spreading germs. Touch-LESS Gaming strives to provide technology to enhance safety through better sanitation options to protect patrons, employees and communities worldwide. We are not only a sanitary solution for today but an answer for tomorrow as well. Be it Covid-19, the fl u, the common cold or other bugs – TLG’s technology is safe, there are no if ands or buts about it.
SEPTEMBER 2021 43
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
