Self-Service

Shield T3 taps vending technology to automate COVID testing

Shield T3 leveraged vending technology to allow college communities to order tests using their electronic health accounts and access COVID test kits at unattended locations.

Image by Shield T3 and Adobe Stock.

July 5, 2023 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

The days of wearing a mask everywhere are over for most Americans, but COVID remains a concern, with new variants popping up, possibly indefinitely.

Hence, the need to remain vigilant continues, especially in public environments.

Fortunately, many university students, faculty and employees are able to test for COVID and get results within 24 hours — without having to interact with another person.

The Shield T3 machine, a vending machine developed at the University of Illinois System's Discovery Partners Institute, provides campuses nationwide with 24/7 access to more than 300 saliva-based PCR tests for COVID.

How it works

Users scan a QR code at the machine to access a test kit, collect a sample and place it in a drop box. Shield T3 picks up the tests and delivers them to its laboratories.

The user then receives results via text message and email.

"Outbreaks are still happening and colleges still need to ensure that in-person classes can be held safely," Bill Jackson, Shield T3's principal officer, said in a prepared statement. "This is a way, with little to no effort on the school's part, to protect students and gauge the number of students who are infected."

"This was all about keeping colleges safe," David Clark, CEO of Shield T3, told this website in a phone interview. "It wasn't about making money."

David Clark

New use for vending tech

Clark became part of the development team after joining Shield T3 in January of 2021, a few months after the organization was incorporated. Clark, bringing experience in the smart building industry, views Shield T3 as one of the most innovative uses to date of vending technology.

"The vending became the central point of that testing technology on college campuses," Clark said. "It was a very creative use of vending machine technology and it worked very, very well."

The machines communicate directly to a university's electronic health records. University administrators can then monitor demand and positivity-rate data from the tests purchased via an online dashboard.

"From that student health account students could order tests directly," Clark said. "They would have their test approved that they were eligible for a test. They could walk to any of the vending machines on campus and scan a QR code on the front of the Invenda vending machine and have a test kit drop out of that vending machine.

"You're actually using your phone, your smart device, you're accessing your account, you're going into your account and you're selecting that you'd like a COVID test, and then it's going and checking your permissions," Clark said. He called it "next generation e-commerce."

While the concept was conceived at a University of Illinois incubator, the first Shield T3 machine placement was at Claremont University in Claremont, California in July 2022. There were about four machines.

Prior to that time, students, faculty and employees went to campus health care centers specially staffed for COVID testing. This was a highly costly testing method that administrators did not consider economically efficient.

Selecting the tech vendor

Shield T3 selected Invenda AG, a Switzerland-based provider of automated retail solutions, after speaking with several equipment manufacturers. By the spring of 2022, Shield T3 wanted to begin delivering machines in 60 days or less.

"Invenda was the only one that could put the solution in place that we needed from an IT and interconnectivity standpoint," Clark said. "They were able, in a very expedited fashion, to leverage their normal software package into the integrations that we needed to be able to enable the functions for our clients."

Invenda helps Shield T3 install the machines via its remote management software and establishes a cellular connection at the location. Shield T3 operates the machines.

There is no charge to the customer for a test kit; either the host institution or the user pays a flat fee of $35 or less after the lab completes the test, depending on the arrangement. There are no other fees involved.

Shield T3 keeps track of all machine inventory remotely, tracking the number of kits dispensed daily.

The company is not presently using Invenda's camera option on account of consumer privacy issues.

Response came fast

Word about Shield T3 spread quickly among the university communities.

"They (Shield T3) received a tremendous amount of inbounds to the University of Illinois about what they were doing, how they were doing it, how they were protecting their students, how they were keeping their classes functioning where many, many other universities were actually shut down or in virtual classes," Clark said.

More to come

The COVID testing is only the first stage of an automated wellness service Shield T3 is working on. The existing machines will become student wellness kiosks, beginning in July.

"We're converting those COVID-only-purpose machines to multiple-purpose machines that are going to vend a wide variety of health solutions," Clark said. "We will have some 'smart' dialog within the electronic medical record of that student. It truly is a new and differentiated model."

This new solution will be in place for July 2023 for the start of the next school year in August.

There are also plans to expand to the private industry sector.

"Almost everyone in the U.S. has an electronic medical record," Clark said. "We're wading in the waters here where vending machines never have before."

Clark did not wish to reveal financial information except to say that annual sales for the company are in excess of $50 million.

Images: Shield T3, LinkedIn.