Unicum delivers slot machines to European, South African and African casinos and gaming sites, and believes that 3M provides the reliability and global support that its customers demand in this revenue-critical application.

CREATING VALUE ADD FOR SLOT PLAYERS

Unicum has specialised in slot machines for casinos, gaming halls, entertainment and amusement complexes since it opened for business in 1990. The company is a strong advocate of touch screen technology for the quality and performance benefits that it can deliver as part of a modern slot machine design.

Attracting high numbers of players is essential to maximise slot machine usage and thereby generate high revenue for operators. Machines that feature a touch screen user-interface have a distinct value add advantage over alternative machines that rely solely on buttons or keys to control the gameplay. They enable new opportunities to add advanced game features and implement fun, attractive graphics that capture player attention and encourage repeat usage. Bright colours, dynamic displays and large controls that are easy to understand and use are powerful techniques that allow casino operators to deliver the new experiences their customers crave.

“Game players are looking for an intense experience that brings them closer to the action. Touch screens have enabled tangible improvements in slot machine capabilities that ultimately deliver bigger revenues for our customers,” commented Alexey Gribanov of Unicum. “For instance, by allowing players to make selections directly on the screen, without mentally linking those choices with an array of buttons, we can deliver games that are faster and more exciting, and therefore attract more players.”

THE 3M ADVANTAGE

Unicum’s decision to use 3M technology was based on a need for high quality, reliability and capability, as well as global support to speed development and delivery, and maximise uptime in the field.

“Quality, accuracy, reliability, resiliency and durability are pre-requisites when selecting a touch screen solution. The latter two are particularly important for us as a supplier, since gaming machines must withstand robust usage. They need to be in action 24/7 to keep players satisfied and to avoid any loss of potential revenue for the operator as a result of the game being out of service,” said Gribanov.

“The quality of the MicroTouch ClearTek capacitive touch technology was clearly superior compared to the alternatives we considered. This was the decisive factor that drew us to work with 3M,” he continued.

THE CAPACITIVE TOUCH CHOICE

Unicum engineers are deploying both flat and curved MicroTouch ClearTek I capacitive touch screen models from 3M in their Adventures machines while ClearTek II is being used in their latest generation product Sensation, launched at ICE 2006. The screens have proved easy to install, allowing the machine to be fully operational within just 10 minutes.

3M’s ClearTek touch screens are ideally suited to slot machine applications, offering fast and accurate touch performance, physical durability, excellent light transmission, advanced anti-glare properties and high reliability in high-use environments. ClearTek II touch screens are particularly appealing for their optimised optics. Furthermore, all ClearTek models are inherently reliable with a protective hard coating to withstand corrosion, liquid spills and abrasion no matter how many times the glass surface is touched.

By selecting capacitive touch screen for its machines, Unicum can reduce the touch screen wearout rate, enabling casino operators to keep machine downtime to a minimum and reduce operating costs whilst retaining customer satisfaction, brand image, business reputation and income.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend