Biology:Identilock
Identilock is a firearm safety device, created by Michigan engineer Omer Kiyani.[1] Identilock is a gun attachment that covers and prevents access to the trigger, which makes it different from other trigger locks.[2] Identilock is clamped to the handle of the gun. It is locked and unlocked with a fingerprint, a biometric scanner that stores up to three fingerprints.[3]
History
Kiyani is a mechanical engineer. He spent the majority of his career working at Bosch. He was shot when he was 16. An unknown gunman fired at Kiyani and his friends one night and the bullet pierced his left cheek.[4][5] Kiyani is an avid gun owner who believes in common sense gun ownership.[6] The stated motivation behind Identilock is to provide a safer and more secure way to keep a gun around family.
Teen suicides and accidental shootings are a growing problem. Kiyani decided to focus on his own solution.[7] Kiyani claims to have created Identilock to curb gun violence in America. On his website he is quoted as wanting to bring Michigan's heritage of innovation, ingenuity and tradition to develop the world's most advanced firearm safety device.[5] Kiyani has received help from TechTown, a non-profit organization that provides a basic foundation for new and growing companies.[8]
Technical overview
Design
Identilock is an engineered trigger lock that is designed to reveal the trigger in less than half a second. It completely covers and prevents access to the trigger until activated by an authorized fingerprint, allowing access to the firearm. It is made of a high end impact resistant polymer, which weighs less than 12 oz. It is about the size of a wallet.[9] Identilock can be categorized as a bio-metric technology or as a gun safety technology, but is not properly included as a smart gun technology because it does not change the operation of a gun. According to Kiyani, Identilock was designed to thwart teenage suicides and prevent accidental shootings.
Biometric scanner
According to the website, Identilock uses fingerprint recognition technology that can store three fingerprints. It can read a stored fingerprint in 360 degrees of rotation.[10] Identilock exposes the trigger when an authorized fingerprint is scanned.[10]
Battery and key
The device is equipped with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The battery is charged with any USB-C compatible charging outlet. The battery lasts up to 6 months in standby mode. Identilock can be unlocked with a physical key if necessary. The key can be used if there is an error with the fingerprint scanner or the battery is completely drained.[11]
Gun application
Identilock works with many popular gun models such as Glock, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson and Colts, etc. Adapters for additional firearms are claimed to be under development.[12][13]
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
A US federal government study determined that 8 percent of unintentional gun-related deaths could have been prevented by a child safety lock. In 2015 nearly 2,000 accidental gun deaths in 2015 were reported.[14]
The Identilock attachment does not alter the guns operation in any way. It makes no changes to the gun itself.[15][16]
Disadvantages
Identilock is not a replacement for standard gun safety procedures. All other gun safety procedures must still be followed. Identilock provides an extra safety feature.
Identilock requires nearly half of one second to fall off of the gun. This may be too slow in some emergency applications.
This product does not address the underlying causes of gun-related violence. If successful, it could reduce the attention paid to those causes.
Awards
- Best use of Technology at CES - Verge [17] *Finalist in Accelerate Michigan [18]
- Finalist at TechCrunch battlefield [19]
- Smart Tech Foundation winner[20]
- Macomb innovation fund winner
- Techtown labs award[21]
- Top 10 Tech companies to watch 2016[22]
Financial overview
Omer Kiyani founded and funded Identilock on his own for years. Identilock later received a $100 thousand grant in 2016 at an unknown valuation from Macomb Community College. The Innovation Fund at Macomb Community College is funded by the $100 million J.P. Morgan Chase Innovation fund which has devoted $2.7 million to Detroit area companies and investments to promote area development.[23]
Detroit TechTown
Omer Kiyani is a graduate of Detroit's TechTown. "TechTown is Detroit’s most established business accelerator and incubator, offering a full suite of entrepreneurial services for both tech and neighborhood enterprises."[24] TechTown is a non-profit organization that wants to help entrepreneurs grow and make a difference in Detroit in order to strengthen the local economy. Their mission is to “help startup and established businesses develop, launch and grow, while strengthening and diversifying the local economy.”[24] They provide a basic foundation for new and growing companies in need of support. TechTown gave Kiyani a work site, financial support, business expertise and marketing support.[25] Wayne State University also contributed to Identilock's early success.[26]
References
- ↑ "Identilock homepage". http://getidentilock.com/identilock/.
- ↑ "Identilock FAQ". http://getidentilock.com/faq/.
- ↑ "IDENTILOCK". http://getidentilock.com/identilock.
- ↑ Itkowitz, Colby (January 11, 2016). "Obama is pushing controversial smart guns. This NRA member may have the answer." (in en-US). The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2016/01/11/obama-seeks-new-smart-gun-technology-this-nra-member-thinks-he-has-it/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "History". getidentilock.com. http://getidentilock.com/history/.
- ↑ Staff, NewsWorks. "Looking for technological solutions to gun violence — NewsWorks". newsworks.org. http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/the-pulse/87034-looking-for-technological-solutions-to-gun-violence.
- ↑ Review-Journal, Wesley Juhl Las Vegas (January 23, 2016). "New smart gun technology uses fingerprint recognition to childproof firearms". Las Vegas Review-Journal. http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/new-smart-gun-technology-uses-fingerprint-recognition-childproof-firearms.
- ↑ "TechTown Grantee". http://neweconomyinitiative.org/case-studies/techtown/.
- ↑ "Technology takes a shot at gun safety" (in en-US). eeDesignIt.com. August 4, 2016. http://www.eedesignit.com/technology-takes-a-shot-at-gun-safety/.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "IDENTILOCK". getidentilock.com. http://getidentilock.com/identilock.
- ↑ "IDENTILOCK". http://getidentilock.com/identilock.
- ↑ Smith, Aaron (2016-01-05). "Identilock inventor hopes to please NRA and Obama on guns". https://money.cnn.com/2016/01/05/technology/identilock-gun-safety/index.html.
- ↑ "Gunforest". https://gunforest.com/. Wednesday, April 8, 2020
- ↑ Hartman, Darrel (January 11, 2016). "Can This High-Tech Gun Accessory Make Smart Guns A Reality?". http://www.fastcompany.com/3054921/can-this-high-tech-gun-accessory-make-smart-guns-a-reality.
- ↑ Itkowitz, Colby (January 11, 2016). "Obama is pushing controversial smart guns. This NRA member may have the answer.". https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2016/01/11/obama-seeks-new-smart-gun-technology-this-nra-member-thinks-he-has-it/.
- ↑ Ainsworth, Katie (January 11, 2016). "Identilock Smart Gun Technology - The Firearm Blog". http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/01/11/identilock-smart-gun-technology/.
- ↑ "The Verge Awards at CES 2016: driving toward the future". https://www.theverge.com/2016/1/9/10741446/ces-2016-winners-verge-awards,.
- ↑ "PREVIOUS COMPETITIONS - Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition". acceleratemichigan.org. http://acceleratemichigan.org/competition/previous-competitions/.
- ↑ Williams, Felicia (2016-01-08). "Secure Your Gun with Identilock - Finalist". techcrunch.com. https://techcrunch.com/video/secure-your-gun-with-identilock-finalist/519400458/.
- ↑ "New smart gun technology uses fingerprint recognition to childproof firearms - Smart Tech Challenges Foundation". smarttechfoundation.org. January 23, 2016. https://smarttechfoundation.org/new-smart-gun-technology-uses-fingerprint-recognition-childproof-firearms/.
- ↑ "TechTown celebrates RetroSense Therapeutics, up-and-coming startups with inaugural Salute! Awards". techtowndetroit.org. September 29, 2016. http://techtowndetroit.org/press-release/techtown-celebrates-retrosense-therapeutics-up-and-coming-startups-with-inaugural-salute-awards/.
- ↑ Inc., The Staff of Entrepreneur Media (May 25, 2016). "10 Tech Companies to Watch - Entrepreneur's Brilliant 100". entrepreneur.com. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275908.
- ↑ "Sentinl inc. - Timeline - crunchbase". crunchbase.com. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/sentinl/timeline#/timeline/index.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Who we are". techtowndetroit.org. December 6, 2012. http://techtowndetroit.org/about-us/vision-mission/.
- ↑ "5 questions with Omer Kiyani of Sentinl". techtowndetroit.org. November 5, 2013. http://techtowndetroit.org/5-questions-with-omer-kiyani-of-sentinl/.
- ↑ "WARRIOR NATION - Web exclusive: 'A flagship collaboration'". wayne.edu. http://alumni.wayne.edu/s/1536/gid2/wn/index.aspx?sid=1536&gid=2&pgid=252&cid=2959&ecid=2959&crid=0&calpgid=598&calcid=1997.
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