yves béhar / fuseproject: august smart lock

‘august smart lock’ by yves béhar / fuseproject and jason johnson, august co-founderall images courtesy of august design

the ‘august smart lock’ is a new security/access system which allows you to send a virtual key to anyone you choose to enter your home. august is the brainchild of yves béhar/fuseproject and jason johnson, august co-founder, who asked themselves how they could provide a seamless, enhanced experience for entering one’s home.

working on three main principles: simpler, safer, social, the design is composed of the lock, which works with existing deadbolts, which is installed onto your door, an intuitive app which acts as a virtual key, and a web-site log-in, so you can stay connected to your home through your smartphone; the linking technologies solving the issue of access in our digital world. the goal with developing the overall structure of the digital system was to try and maintain the same qualities of opening your door with a regular key and lock (don’t worry, if you so choose, you can still lock and unlock your home the old fashioned way). ‘august’ proves to be safer than using keys as it has encrypted security that cannot be copied by others, and is safe–it continues to work under all conditions: cable, DSL, even if power is down in your home. and what happens if you lose your phone? you can login to august.com and ‘kill’ your key, or access your account from a friend’s phone.

the ‘august smart lock’ associates a person to a home, so that it can identify who you are through the app. this is evidenced through the ‘auto-lock’ feature which acknowledges you upon arrival at your door, unlocking it without you having to grab your keys, and locking it again once you’re inside. other special features include ‘sending invites’ to friends. for example, if you’re having a dinner party, you may send a code to all of your guests so that they can easily enter your home without you having to continuously rush to the door when it ringsto let them in. all traffic come in and out of your home can managed through an entry log that permits you to see who has come through your door, putting you in full control.

the ‘august lock system’ addresses all possible situations, if you have ever lost your keys, been absent from home when a special delivery arrived, or have guests coming over, improving accessibility and offering a broader sense of community and trust between friends and families.

‘august’ is set to go on the market later this year at an affordable price (under 200USD).

during new york design week 2013, designboom met up with yves béhar and jason johnson to discuss their new initiative:

designboom speaks with yves béhar and jason johnson about the development of the ‘august lock system’

august smart lockvideo © august

‘when you approach the door you can check the status – if the door is unlocked or not – whether it is green or red or the line is turned up or down, and you can hear it through a sound that we created. when you look from front, there is this line which, when it is up, then it is unlocked, plus you have the LED lights that tell you, plus there is the sound – so there are three sensory keys that show you the status if the door is locked or not. you can set the lock to auto-lock, if you wish – the electronic system can be assured that when you are getting in or getting out you’ll always know if it is locked or unlocked. from the outside you shouldn’t be able to see it, but you can see it on your phone,‘ says yves bèhar.

the lock works with existing deadbolts so you can still secure your home the old fashioned way