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RoboVault Provides Futuristic Storage

Self-Storage Facility Uses Fingerprints, Voice Recognition

POSTED: Friday, July 3, 2009
UPDATED: 1:39 pm EDT July 3, 2009

Climate-controlled rooms, bulletproof glass, even heart beat security systems are features you might expect to find in museum, but now a Fort Lauderdale businessman hopes his attention to science will attract people to his one-of-a-kind self-storage facility.

It sounds like the beginning of a sci-fi film, but a commercial for a Fort Lauderdale self-storage facility is peddling the truth. A five-story, $22 million storage facility that opened in June next to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, RoboVault is fully robotic. All customers need to do is deliver the goods.

"Once you're inside the building, you enter the biometrics scan and whatever you're storing here, whether it's art, or a car, will be taken away robotically where no one has access,” said RoboVault president Marvin Chaney.

Chaney took Local 10’s Jonathan Viglotti on a tour of his high-tech, climate-controlled fortress that requires fingerprints and even voice recognition to identify clients.

"We have over 6 miles of conduit used just for security. The purpose of this structure is to make people feel as comfortable as possible. People say it reminds them of the movie 'The Da Vinci Code,'" said Chaney.

A total of 185 security cameras blanket the entire property, which also includes safe deposit boxes and a wine vault. Chaney hopes his Hollywood take on storage will attract South Florida’s super affluent.

"We can handle cars, artwork, forensic science, furniture, anything that can fit in a 15-by-20-foot space," he said.

It took a little over a year to build RoboVault. If the facility is a success, Chaney plans on developing more across the country. So far, only 100 out of 3,400 units have been rented, but Chaney said he is fielding calls from businesses including forensic science labs and museums.

“This structure is all steel and concrete. We can survive a Category 5 hurricane. That’s a very attractive element," Chaney said.

While business may just be starting, Chaney said retina scans and a heartbeat detector are being developed. It is a futuristic take on storage. The question is, will people buy into this technology or leave it to Hollywood?

Rentals start at $10 a month for safe-deposit boxes and more than $400 a month for steel-enclosed units.
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