Eye-opening FT article re LOQ7 Mar 2013 11:12
This was in the FT last week and will have contributed to the recent excitement - there are some "wow" moments that make you wonder just how big LOQ will eventually be and how widespread its technology will become!
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f5f66fa4-7ac8-11e2-915b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2MpoMI7GG
Extracts:
"February 28, 2013 3:35 pm
Tech companies line up to cut queueing
By Maija Palmer
End of the line: devices can queue for you at Legoland
Why queue when your mobile device could do it for you? In theme parks, at least, waiting for hours in a long line in the hot sun could be a thing of the past.
According to Tom Burnet, chief executive of Lo-Q, which provides queue-busting devices and software, the technology exists to create an amusement park where no one stands in line. Instead, users could be scheduled to flow smoothly between attractions by following prompts from a mobile device.
“Conceptually, you could have 100 per cent of the people in the park not queueing – or queueing virtually,” Mr Burnet says. “But in practical terms it is a little more challenging – where do all those people go?” Most amusement parks do not have enough restaurants, kiosks, shops and public spaces to accommodate all their visitors if they are not standing in line for a ride.
A newly built park would be different, and Mr Burnet says Lo-Q is in talks with one theme park operator that is pondering designing its next venue to be completely queueless.
Lo-Q has rolled out a device called a Q-bot in more than 20 theme parks, including Legoland resorts in Europe and Six Flags in the US. It holds a virtual place in a queue for visitors while they do something else – or, if they pay extra – jump to the front without waiting. The UK-based company had sales of £29.1m in 2012, and double-digit rises in sales in the past three years.
Disney, too, is developing its own flow-management technology, involving wirelessly connected wristbands that let visitors select a time-slot for popular rides without standing in line.
“Anything that Disney does the rest of the industry will ponder,” says Mr Burnet.
There is a financial incentive to getting people out of lines. Mr Burnet estimates that visitors spend about $6 an hour in a theme park – on food, drinks and souvenirs – when they are not on rides or in queues.
Getting rid of queues looks set to spread beyond theme parks.....
....Lo-Q recently bought Accesso, a US-based electronic ticketing company, whose clients include zoos, concert halls, sports events and venues such as Seattle’s Space Needle.
Lo-Q’s technology will work on mobile phones as well as its Q-Bots. And with faster, 4G smartphone connections under way, Mr Burnet believes there will be possibilities for scheduling users’ days, perhaps even down to bank appointments and visits to the dry cleaner........"
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