As a steady flow of new technology emerges on the showroom floor of CES, some products have risen as clear favorites. The recipient of the 2019 CES Innovation Award is the LubnBox, a smart key box that uses visual authentication.
Lubn is a Seattle-based start-up that develops hardware and software products catering to retail store owners, property managers, and any other profession where people entering and leaving a property needs to be closely monitored. The box is connected to hardware that holds keys to a specific property. Lubn delivers an app as well as a dashboard that permits property managers to monitor and then decide who can gain access to the property.
Lubn Founder and CEO Yuan-Chou Chung says that he, “envisions his product being used by people like rental property managers who have to manage multiple homes. These types of users may deal with situations in which several tenant applicants ask to visit different locations at the same time. With Lubn, the manager would not have to be present at a property for a visitor to be able to enter.”
Once a booking for an applicant is processed, an alert is sent to the visitor’s phone from the property manager that provides an itinerary and a QR code. The visitor can then scan their code on the LubnBox to gain access during their scheduled time frame.
The LubnBox is connected to the internet so it can send notifications to the manager as soon as keys are dispensed. In addition, the box is capable of taking images of the visitor and the duration of their visit. In updated forms of the device, there are built-in motor sensors that would alert property managers if someone tried to tamper with the device.
The first version of the LubnBox retails for $199 to $349 and has already started shipping this previous November. The second version of the box is set to begin shipment later this year.
