Slashdot Mirror
The Intelligent Door Handle
Poromenos writes "Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed the intelligent door handle. It combines a camera, buzzer, RFID locks and various other systems inside the door, making keys obsolete. RFID chips for opening doors will offer 'added advantages for elderly or handicapped people, saving them the trouble of wielding keys or holding the door open in order to get inside the building.'"
My friend has a new BMW 325i, and it doesn't use keys, but has an RFID chip to unlock the doors when she's in proximity. I agree with your worries, but maybe we should look into what BMW has done to engineer for the elements?
Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, which is why engineers sometimes smell really bad.
I always find these kind of things quite cool. You can store your chip in a badge or implant it in your hand (I'd personally go for this and there are pages on the web about a guy who's done it). The system can be designed to withstand notable cold/heat, and please note that nowadays' locks are unusable when it is cold/hot enough, so we're not losing functionality here.
These are the things that, one by one, will make our world look like "Deus Ex" crossed with "The 5th element", "The Matrix" and what have you. Not that those societies were any good... I'm just thinking about the tech thay used.
Now they just need to engineer real-life manga-shaped-and-*behaving* girls, and we're all set.
Global warming is a cube.
I'm away a great deal, and have need of being able to have someone pick up my post/water my plants etc, it is very convienient to drop a key off to someone so they can get in. Far more so than inviting someone round and getting there details into the locking software's database.
However I can see that once the info is in the database there could be an ability to set which of the people are allowed in, blocking priviledges to certain people at one time, and granting another. This would make the system ideal for someone like myself. Though I do see there could be some problems in the event of fire/some form of emergency in terms of getting in/out, one would hope these contigency plans would have been thought about.
I turned it off after that. However, it was a neat feature at a parking lot -- just walk up to your car, open the door and hop in. Now, if the RFID would also activate the ingition, and there was just a button instead of a keyhole, it would have been even nicer since you would never have to take your keys out of your pocket to drive.
And if that became the case, then "keys" might transform into something easier to carry, like a credit card that you could just put in your wallet (like we used to have at work, a proximity badge for security access).
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
What about hackers? I mean it doesn't take an idiot to download a program off of the internet that lets them crack your doors encryption
Besides, what kind of future door doesn't sigh.
Ok, some people have expressed some very basic concerns in regards to emergency situations. I would like to point a few simple things out.
1) House locks keep people OUT not IN, which is the goal here as well. I'm sure there would be simple mechanical method of opening the door in case of emergency, like turning the same deadbolt style lock that exists now. Difference is, this has the option of being opened from the outside using some tech and a motor.
2) LOCKS KEEP EMERGENCY PERSONNEL OUT NOW. This is why we carry such things as a rabbit tool, spreaders, and the traditional set of irons (axe + halligan). We break the damn lock. No problem.
Ok, so I came up with two simple points. But they are good ones nonetheless :)
From
http://prius.toyota.com.au/toyota/vehicle/Content
.au because it came up first in Google...
I have a prius w/ the smart-key system just like that on the lexus or mercedes. In answer to the "loss-of-power" issue. You have a small key that can be released from the RFID fob that allows you to manually unlock the door.
eah, I know you can have an external key or card containing another chip, but that kinda defeats your point, doesn't it?
;)
But if your friend also had a chip in their arm, you could just tell the car/house that your friend is ok to use it (and even specify the length of time they are 'ok' for, something you can't do with regular keys). No surgery required.
The day when RFID scanners/duplicators are easily available probably isn't too far off, either
Obvious solution: make RFID scanners/duplicators illegal! That should work