The new technology allows users to enter their password on a hidden keypad.
Evgeniia Gilshtein from the Swiss research institute has developed a hidden lock system that allows being more secure from thieves and intruders trying to break in.
The device contains invisible buttons printed using transparent polymer film or conductive ink, a statement from EMPA Research institute reads.
With this technology’s help, users get a lock system with zero discernable methods for it to be cracked. Only the one who sets the password knows where the buttons are located.
In an EMPA released video, the technology is shown to convert the screws of a door handle to buttons. The lock opens when its user presses each screw in the right sequence.
The novel ‘invisible keyhole’ was built with electronic circuits and sensors on polymer films, created by the researchers at EMPA ‘Thin Films and Photovoltaics’ lab.
Invisible keyhole makes use of transparent conductive metal oxides. The invisible material is applied to the surface with an inkjet printer using micrometer precision.
Its developers used a clever method to hide the circuits even with the device in sight.
“After the circuits were printed and preliminary annealed on the carrier foil, the foil was dyed blue. Since the blue ink, unlike a transparent film, can absorb light, this now enables the ink to be sintered onto the substrate, using high-energy light irradiation,” the EMPA press release says. “In the process, not only does the blue color disappear, but the optoelectrical properties of the “secret ink” made of indium tin oxide nanoparticles are improved in the same step.”
The sensor surfaces are not visible to the human eye and can be located anywhere its holder decides, like a pane of glass or a door handle. Its developers are positive about its scalability, given its simple technique of printing.
Gilshtein said these invisible locks come with vast use and could be installed at banks, homes, and hospitals. The easy and simple way for ensuring safety.
This impressive new technology could be printed onto hidden doorways and passages within a building and elsewhere.
The new safety system could make a hidden room safe, but you have to ensure not to forget where the transparent keypad is. If you lose the pattern or the lock’s location, it would be the same as losing your keys.
