[Industry First] Easily Retrofittable Hands-Free Automatic Door Unlocking System with Automatic Door Sensor for Condominiums

Optex Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture; President & CEO: Toru Kamimura) is proud to announce its new hands-free automatic door unlocking system for shared condominium entrances, a joint development with Hankyu Hanshin Properties Corp. (Headquarters: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture; President & CEO: Yasuki Fukui) and CoLife Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo Ward, Tokyo; President & CEO: Jumpei Ikeuchi).

Development of this new system was completed on Friday, November 1, and the system is scheduled to be introduced in 2025 as a new function for “geo life support,” an application for residents of Hankyu Hanshin Properties’ “geo” condominiums.

Conventional automatic locking door systems at common entrances require residents to use the key to their specific unit. In recent years, installable hands-free locks have become popular, but such systems require extensive equipment installation work, making them difficult to adopt in condominiums that are already equipped with older locking systems.

Optex’s newly developed Hands-Free Automatic Door Unlocking System is designed to be retrofittable, allowing for hands-free unlocking of automatic locking doors simply by replacing or adding automatic locking door sensors with products compatible with OMNICITY, a sharing service planned, developed, and sold by Optex. This is the industry’s first* system to offer hands-free unlocking of automatic locking doors.

With this system, residents no longer have to use their unit key to unlock automatic locking doors, leaving their hands free for carrying luggage or minding children and making their living environment more convenient and comfortable.

• This system is the first in the industry to utilize automatic door sensors for hands-free unlocking via a real estate company app for residents. (As of November 7, 2024, based on Hankyu Hanshin Properties and Optex research)

When a smartphone with the geo life support app enters the detection area of the automatic door sensor, the app communicates with the sensor as well as the app’s cloud system. Upon successful authentication, the door is unlocked automatically.

This system can be made by CoLife, which develops and operates the geo life support app, implementing software to communicate with the sensors developed by Optex.

Hankyu Hanshin Properties plans to introduce the system to new properties and propose them to existing resident associations.

• In October 2024, Hankyu Hanshin Properties renewed “geo fit+ Lab,” a product development planning and verification space that builds on the opinions of residents and employees in charge of condominiums and detached houses.Resident associations that are interested in introducing the Hands-Free Automatic Door Unlocking System can visit the Lab to experience the system firsthand (reservation required). The Lab also focuses on novel floor plans, storage ideas, and other aspects of comfortable living to meet today’s needs.

The geo life support app is available to owners and residents of condominiums sold by Hankyu Hanshin Properties in the Kansai and Greater Tokyo areas and managed by Hankyu Hanshin Housing Support.

OMNICITY is a sharing service that adds Beacon functionality to automatic door sensors originally equipped with only automatic door opening/closing control. Beacon functionality enables communication between the automatic door sensors and smartphones with Beacon-compatible apps. The main functions of this service include automatic unlocking of doors, coupon distribution networking, and traffic flow analysis, paving the way for a variety of other services.
＞For more information, visit the OMNICITY website (Japanese)