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The Daily Review/Geoff Stoute
A&E Office Machines Sales Representative Joseph Vinson discusses the AE Temperature Kiosk at the company’s Morgan City office Tuesday. The machine reads temperature, automatically dispenses hand sanitizer and has tissues and a trash compartment, too. At right is a smaller scale that reads temperature.

Local business combines technologies in health care product

A product to help doctor’s offices with determining temperatures using facial recognition has taken on an even bigger purpose for A&E Office Machines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, the Morgan City business is selling its AE Temperature Sensing Kiosk to help those stay safe during the pandemic.
Sales Representative Joseph Vinson said that initially A&E Office Machines owner Adam Crappel was developing a device to put into doctor’s offices that would check patient’s temperature. That would enable those with fevers to be separated from those who don’t have a fever.
After sharing the idea with customers and fellow employees, they have incorporated that feedback into the products that are for sale now.
“It really just kind of took off from there,” Vinson said.
The kiosk allows consumers to not only have their temperature taken but also can dispense hand sanitizer automatically and can store tissues to dry hands. A built-in trash bin is on the machine’s side.
“The facial recognition part, it will recognize your face with or without a mask, so even if you have a mask on, it’s still going to be able to recognize your features and who you are,” Vinson said.
He said they have sold about 200 units of the larger kiosk in multiple Southern states since introducing it to the public about a month ago.
“We’re all over the place,” Vinson said.
The hope is for the product to sell nationwide, he said.
The kiosk sells for just under $4,000, while a smaller one that just takes temperatures using facial recognition is available for just under $3,000.
“It’s really applicable to any business, any school, any government agency,” Vinson said.
He said the finished product is assembled onsite.
Vinson said A&E Office Machines has “the rights” to the product in the Americas.
“While they do have the technology on the temperature sensing, we basically merged everything together,” he said.
Vinson said the machine can store temperatures of those who use it, too.
“The software has the capability to actually track the data,” he said, alleviating the burden of having to manually record visitor’s data in places where tracking it is mandatory right now.
Vinson said it’s a positive feeling to be able to help the public with this product.
“It’s a good feeling, gratifying to be able to know that you’re helping make a difference and ease tensions as people begin to … go back to work or whatever the case may be,” he said.
Vinson said A&E Office Machines is working on other products, too.
“We have a metal detector that also checks your temperature, so it’s doing both at the same time,” he said.

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