It’s unbelievable the amount of door lock technology that’s out on the market right now. Safety concerns have never been higher, and although the economy seems to have hit a rough patch, people are still spending like crazy on home security. There have been many interesting developments in this field recently that I’d like to share.
One of my favorites is the fingerprint lock. A few years ago, the only fingerprint locks that existed were in science fiction books and movies. But now they are a reality for home use. Of course, most of us don’t have anything valuable enough to warrant this degree of security, but it’s still a marvel to think about. There are even models that come with a remote control. Just touch your finger to the tiny pad and the door opens without you even having to touch it- amazing! If you’re interested in buying one of these bad boys, they’ll run you about $200-300 per lock. You’ll want to look for one that has a nice high resolution. The resolution determines how many different points of your finger the lock can measure, and thus how accurate and secure it is. It also has a large bearing on the ease of recognition. Because the technology is still largely in its infancy, many commercially manufactured locks aren’t actually terribly good at recognition, with a success rate of about fifty percent- that doesn’t mean you’ll be locked out in the cold, it just means you’ll have to try again. But the good news is, that the newer fingerprint locks, with a resolution of 400-500 DPI (Dots Per Inch) have a recognition success rate of about 95%, which is fantastic. The other thing you’ll want to look at if you’re considering a fingerprint door lock is how many distinct prints it will hold. Most will hold quite a few- I’ve seen locks that hold as many as 99 prints, which is amazing.
Of course, as I said before, most of you reading this blog probably won’t need to run out and buy this type of door lock. It frankly would be overkill for most average uses. It’s just very amazing that the technology is out there. Over the next few years I expect to see continued expansion in this field, and who knows what other science fiction gadgets will become a high tech reality. Thanks for reading my door lock blog, see you next time!
