Toronto technology company Nymi has begun offering its Workplace Wearables solution, which includes its sensor-based wristband, leveraging Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technologies to communicate with Elatec readers. The solution is aimed at solving both safety and security challenges, the company reports, by providing access to secure places or devices, as well as protect against COVID-19 transmission. Nymi teamed with Elatec last year to leverage its RFID and NFC or BLE mobile device readers to communicate with Nymi’s wristband.
Companies can use the solution for contact-tracing and social-distancing efforts, in addition to the features the wristband has already offered for access control, digital signatures and more, according to Andrew Foxcroft, Nymi’s VP. The Nymi system includes the wristbands, Nymi’s back-end server software and a user’s own management software. These components work together, he says, to identify an individual and authorize him or her to conduct a variety of pre-approved tasks, such as entering a clean room or opening a specific computer, without touching any surfaces or reaching for badges. The technology thereby makes access to places and equipment faster, the company explains, with a reduced risk of transmission.
Nymi, incorporated in 2011, grew out of academic research conducted at the University of Toronto, Foxcroft says. The research centered around using wearable biometrics for authentication and security, he notes, stating, “We remain true to that focus today.” The company now offers other wireless authentication technologies as well, and the wearable solution is designed to replace what the company calls “clunky” forms of authentication traditionally used, such as ID cards and lanyards, “with a simple, safe and secure expression of your identify.”
Originally, Foxcroft says, the company was known as Bionym, but this has since been shortened to Nymi. The firm announced its Technology Partner Program in early 2020, and it then formed a partnership with Elatec, which it announced in December. “We felt it was the right time to acknowledge and formalize the strong working relationship we have with Elatec,” he states, adding that Elatec provides Nymi with “a fairly large selection of products in their catalogue that allows for tailoring the right solution for the customer’s needs.”
The Nymi wristband includes numerous biometric sensors, a unique ID number, and NFC and BLE functionality to communicate with readers and smartphones. The system could employ readers using the Bluetooth beacon protocol, or NFC 13.56 MHz devices compliant with the ISO 14443 standard. The Elatec readers are mounted on walls at entrances, or on desktops attached to secured devices, typically connected via a USB port. They can also be integrated into use case-specific products. A company could provide a wristband to each employee, with each uniquely identified bracelet linked to that individual and his or her credentials in Nymi’s cloud-based software. Like a fitness tracker, the band would then capture that person’s heart rate and activity data.
Andrew Foxcroft
The wristband can also enable access control. For instance, if an individual works at a pharmaceutical company and has authorized access to specific clean rooms, laboratories or offices, she or he could use the band in place of an ID badge or key. A company would deploy a reader at the entrance, and the individual would simply bring the wristband within a few inches of the reader, at which point it would capture data either via NFC or BLE. The system would identify whether that person was authorized to enter, and the Elatec reader would prompt a display of data on the screen and the opening or unlocking of a door at the entrance, if appropriate. In that way, the individual could enter without touching anything or creating a risk of contamination.
The system could be similarly used to allow access to specific computers or IT devices. A user would present a wristband near the desktop reader, which would identify him or her and trigger the unlocking of the equipment. Additionally, the bracelet could be used for electronic signatures and transaction signing within an application, as well as door and floor access, and for secure print management. In some cases, companies have built the reader into their human machine interface (HMI). “There are many use cases for Nymi,” Foxcroft says. “We typically find that customers will start with one use case and then expand to several.”
During the past few months, Foxcroft reports, several businesses have begun using the wristband solution for social distancing and contract tracing as well. The Nymi bands can become “aware” of each other by capturing BLE transmissions when they come within a specific range of each other; that distance could be set, for instance, at 6 feet. The solution captures transmissions indicating a close-proximity event, as well as the length of time the sensors remained within close proximity to each other. At the end of the day, the device can then forward that information to the wristband so the user can review behaviors and potential risks.
Managers could collect data as well, Foxcroft says, in order to understand who has come into contact with whom, and to model a better working environment. They could use this information for such purposes as contact tracing in the event that a workers receives a positive test result for COVID-19, and the system can alert users in real time. For example, companies could configure the bands to “buzz” via a built-in haptic sensor if users are too close to someone else. “This helps to enforce good working practices,” Foxcroft explains. In this way, he says, “You can use Nymi to help get employees back to work and working in a safe way”
Headquartered in Munich, with offices in Florida, Elatec makes readers for access control, as well as for the unlocking of restricted items, such as printers, IT assets or vehicles, according to J.T. Tepley, Elatec’s regional sales manager for the company’s Industry Solutions division. The firm is technology-agnostic, so it can capture tag IDs from 13.56 MHz HF, NFC or other wireless protocols for access or printer use. “Our reader enables IT managers to track information,” Tepley says, such as when a printer is accessed and by whom, or when a specific room or building is being accessed.
For three decades Elatec has offered RFID-based solutions, with the NFC- and BLE based desktop reader released four years ago. It comes in a housing with a USB cable. The initial use case was centered around printer access, but the system also helps companies monitor how much printing is taking place, as well as when and by which individuals. More recently, the Elatec readers have been used for physical access, of for the management of trucks, forklifts or other vehicle fleets.
J.T. Tepley
With the reader installed on vehicles, for example, a driver could provide his or her credentials wirelessly before the vehicle would operate, and the system’s back-end telematics software would confirm that person’s qualifications. The solution comes with a software developers kit, Tepley says, so technology providers can build their own solutions and customize responses. Car rental companies could utilize the technology, for example, by having customers carry loyalty cards that would be authorized to unlock a vehicle, or they could use the BLE or NFC functionality on their smartphones.
Nymi and Elatec report that they have numerous pilots or deployments now under way in such sectors as pharmaceutical research. Because a drug company’s HMI device must remain sanitary, the reader would be attached to the HMI display. An individual would then tap the wristband against the reader, view her or his access data on the display and thereby gain access to a given area. While early solutions have been largely oriented toward healthcare and pharmaceuticals, Tepley says, “We’re still just scratching the surface” of how the technology might be used. Nymi’s technology can also operate with other NFC- or BLE-based reading devices and mobile phones.