

Show HN: DittoKey - Door keys copied from a photo app. - seddona
http://dittokey.com

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seddona
Thanks. From a technical perspective it does work, I have successfully copied
a few working keys. There's zero infrastructure right now, if you use the app
I'll send you an email by hand and cut the key myself. This is MVP!

Yep security is the biggest user concern, my plan for this is centered around
keeping e-mail addresses and real addresses apart.

Ultimately though through my research on this I've discovered how trivial it
is to get through most locks so it would just be way too much effort for a
thief to use DittoKey.

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andrewmcveigh
What about an opportunist though? Someone you know could snatch your keys from
the table at a bar, but snapping a picture of your house keys leaves you
unaware that anything has happened, until they rob your house.

Of course you'd have to be hanging around with some pretty shady people for
this to happen, but you don't always know everyone at the table well...

EDIT: That said, I really like the idea. I wish something like this was
available in Europe.

~~~
seddona
Right now the computer vision isn't really well optimised it takes about a
minute to go through the process. Give me a wad of blu-tack and I can get an
impression of your key in a couple of seconds.

Valid point though, I've thought most of the security concerns through from a
logical angle and I'm pretty happy with the situation, but potential customers
will just make a snap judgement based on 'feel' .

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baberuth
The "in another life I could have been a spy" part of me LOVES that this can
be done.

I've read that with zoom lenses and consumer level dslr you can get high
enough quality images to be able to copy someone elses keys without getting
within 100 feet of the key.

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AlexMuir
Love this. Marketing is going to be critical to your success - it's a one-off,
low-cost transaction that people rarely need, and you're competing against the
keycutting booths in supermarkets that people see at least once a week.

But you've got great novelty. Perhaps create a theme around the idea that
you're harnessing CIA technology (well, they've definiely done something
similar at some point in the last 50 years). That's likely to get you a decent
amount of mileage in the media, and make you stick in people's minds.

~~~
seddona
Thanks Alex. Yeah my thinking is that the name is critical you will have to
remember it for the 6-12 months between hearing about the app and actually
needing a key.

The other angle is key 'backup' so you scan all your keys as a backup and if
you loose it I send you a PDF you can take to the locksmith and get a key cut
whilst you wait. My friend suggested 'KeyBrother' for this service, from the
Seinfeld episode :-)

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moblivu
Great idea! It still needs to be tested of course for an accurate feedback,
but the idea itself is really cool.

Only thing that I am concerned of is the lack of a policy and terms of use.
Basically we are sending you our address and key and there is no legal
policies or terms of use on the website concerning the use of these pictures,
how they will be used and stored. I think this is the main concern I see.

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AlexMuir
How do you deal with the profile of a key?

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seddona
Right now I read the code at the top which generally (>95%) gives you enough
info, there are some keys I can't do yet.

I've trailed some heuristics to infer the profile based on the side view which
look feasible but will require a fairly large validated dataset.

