First Look: Biofire, The World's First Smart Gun?

First Look: Biofire, The World’s First Smart Gun?

April 13, 2023

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SMART GUN OR BAD IDEA?

NEW from Biofire comes what might be the world’s first practical smart gun.

In something like what you might see in a Bond movie, the Biofire Smart Gun uses capacitive fingerprint identification and 3D infrared facial recognition systems to detect an authorized user’s identity and grant them access to the firearm. These systems work in tandem, but only one is required to release the gun’s fire control and allow the system to be fired.

In other words, your fingerprint can unlock it, or your face can.

The Smart Gun itself is a fire-by-wire system with multiple internal safeties that prevent the use of the firearm without first being unlocked via the authentication system. The solid-state, encrypted fire control system secures the system from being tampered with or bypassed.

Furthermore, all of the biometric data never leaves the firearm. Biofire’s Smart Gun has no onboard WiFi, BlueTooth, GPS, or RFID. From the ground up, the system was designed to retain and protect all of the data. Electronic access to the Smart Gun is only through a USB port and the Smart Dock that comes with the Smart Gun. The Smart Dock is used to add new users, remove users, and other tasks. No phone app, no kill switch.

We at RECOIL got to see a preview of the Smart Gun only just this week. And while we plan on reporting more on it in the near future, for now, this is at least something to keep an eye on. So-called “smart” technology for firearms has been a topic of consideration for decades, but until now seemed more fantasy than reality.

We have many questions for Biofire and its new firearm. Durability, reliability, security, and just how well the system actually works. All of these and more we hope to see answered in the coming months.

For now, if you’re interested in pre-orders, they are available on Biofire’s website. MSRP for the Smart Gun is $1,500

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

SMART GUN

CALIBER: 9mm Luger
ACTION: Semi-Automatic
OPERATION: Striker-Fire
FIRE CONTROL: Electronic
FACIAL RECOGNITION: 3D Infrared Facial Recognition
FINGERPRINT: Capacitive Fingerprint Identification
SLIDE MATERIAL: Forged Stainless Steel
BARREL MATERIAL: Forged Stainless Steel
GRIP MATERIAL: Glass Filled Nylon
BATTERY: Rechargeable Lithium-Ion
LASER: Fully Integrated Laser Sight
LASER WAVELENGTH: 635nm
LASER DIVERGENCE: .7mRad
LASER PEAK OUTPUT: .5mW
REAR STATUS INDICATOR: Light Emitting Diode
REAR SIGHT: Notch
FRONT SIGHT: Non-Reciprocating Blade
FRONT SIGHT ILLUMINATION: Light Emitting Diode
MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 10 or 15 Rounds
MAGAZINE STYLE: Double Stack
MAGAZINE FOLLOWER High Visibility Follower
TRIGGER PULL: 5lbs
TRIGGER STYLE: Flat
TRIGGER RESET: Tactile and Audible
TRIGGER LENGTH: 2.9” (73mm)
BARREL LENGTH: 4.7” (119mm)
OVERALL LENGTH: 8.7” (222mm)
OVERALL WIDTH: 5.7” (145mm)
OVERALL HEIGHT: 1.6” (40mm)
BARREL POLISHING: Feed Ramp and Chamber
BARREL TWIST RATE: 1:10”
OVERALL WEIGHT: 2.4lbs
SLIDE: Serrated Grip Texture
EJECTION PORT: Right Side
MECHANICAL SAFETIES: Trigger and Drop Safety
ELECTRONIC INTERFACE: USB Type-C

SMART DOCK

DISPLAY: 5” LCD Captivate Touch
PROCESSOR: Quad-Core Processor
SECURITY: Cryptographic Acceleration Module
POWER MANAGEMENT: Flexible Power Domain Partitioning
SENSOR: Ambient Light Sensor
OVERALL LENGTH: 6.75” (171mm)
OVERALL WIDTH: 3.5”(89mm)
OVERALL HEIGHT: 2.5” (64mm)

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8 Comments

Al Liguori says:

April 13, 2023 at 12:16 pm

Fuck them.

Dale Grantham says:

April 14, 2023 at 3:57 pm

I like the idea. You need to test it and tell us the results.
It might even be a good investment.
It might suck.
Test the prototype for us.

Lance says:

April 21, 2023 at 12:09 pm

Wouldn’t buy that crap with YOUR money!

Harold Littell says:

April 21, 2023 at 12:44 pm

Kill this garbage. This will only be used against freedom.

Mikey Turnbow says:

April 21, 2023 at 1:07 pm

SUBJECT IT TO THE SAME TRIALS AS THOSE USED DURING THE COMPETITION FOR THE MILITARY HANDGUN CONTRACT. SEE IF IT HOLDS UP AFTER BEING UNDER WATER, FROZEN, BURIED IN SAND AND MUD AND 30,000 ROUNDS THROUGH IT BEFORE BEING CLEANED. PASS ALL THAT…I “MIGHT” BE INTERESTED.

Keven Entzel says:

April 21, 2023 at 1:33 pm

I agree with Al Liguori.
Really bad idea, falling right into the hands of the anti freedom progressives. Company probably under their control.
No way I would depend on a device like this in a life or death situation. You could have a foreign substance or cut on your finger that would prevent you from firing. What if the battery goes dead or there is an electronic failure.
Only a brain dead far lefty would think this is a good idea, no one in their right mind would actually purchase one, especially at that price.

Mikial says:

April 22, 2023 at 8:58 am

Great idea…not! Search ‘Smart gun fails during demo” and even MSN reported on 4/22/2023 that it doesn’t work. It couldn’t fire two rounds in a row. So the good guy buys this thing, the bad guys use an actual gun that works, and the good guy with a gun dies. Just what the Liberals want to happen.

damion says:

May 23, 2023 at 2:13 pm

I am not a fan of this technology, facial/fingerprint recognition for a mechanical device such as a gun – this would be more accurately called a bio-imprinted password.
Essentially all this product has done has taken the fingerprint scan and/or facial scan and converted the biological information into a mathematical formula i.e. a hash value (see MD5) it won’t need an internet connection to run the cryptographic algorithm, the scans or the monitoring and storage of the values to compare against.
Now while this bio-recognition lock might be a product better versus with fumbling with a manual key lock or pin-pads in a middle of the night stressful situation, it still in my opinion has far more cons than pros.
Since most gun owners, expect to not only own keep their firearms for their lifetimes they also hope that they will bequeath their firearms to their family and still last for generations. This product given current technology puts battery replacement life at about once every 2-3 years and memory replacement at about every 10 years. Also this is a product that could be exposed to extreme environmental conditions, dropped, heat-humidity, rain, puddles etc how is the memory, electronics and battery protected to prevent damage.
Con#1 “Battery”: Regardless of how long a battery life it has it still at some point must be charged to be usable as designed; and with all rechargeable devices battery replacement will also be an issue and how is the memory of the “computer” managed with a dead or replaced battery. Keeping in mind that the battery could still be perfectly fine with over 300 to 500 charge cycles, but it could also fail sooner (how have they tested and gone through the battery manufacturer selection -cheapest and lowest quality or highest cost and most reliability) what kind of testing was performed to get the products anticipated life before replacement. – if the battery is damaged or being recharged what is protecting the owner from run away thermal issues.
Con#2 “Memory”: Depending on the memory and compression technology used can the stored hash values become corrupt over time, or lost? The electrical charge stored in a flash memory cells degrades over time, and will degrade much faster at extended temperatures; also the more you use a memory this type of memory cards, the more likely it is to degrade over time. A typical memory card can go through 10,000 to 1 million “write/erase” cycles before failing rates increase, but also sitting idle “cold” no electrical charge for extended periods will also cause corruption as the memory cells lose electrical charge. Also like the battery their is a finite physical age limit, typically 10 years. Keeping in mind that the memory could still be perfectly fine with over 2 million write/erase cycles and older then 10 years, but it could also fail sooner (how have they tested and gone through the memory manufacturer selection; their is a finite amount of times before it becomes unusable. -cheapest and lowest quality or highest cost and most reliability) what kind of testing was performed to get the products anticipated life before replacement.
Con#3 “motherboard”: If treated well and kept clean, a motherboard typically lasts between 10-20 years, though it is possible to last longer. This application of smart gun, could also put cleaning solvents and oils in contact with the motherboard(s) causing damage. Which means replacing the hardware with what will eventually become obsolete, and you may need to upgrade to the latest hardware.
Con#4 “reliability”: Facial and fingerprint recognition is vastly improved from a few years ago, but error rates are still high especially in the facial and in controlled settings are much more accurate then in real life scenarios. Also keep in mind that similarity scores and comparison thresholds to account for the false negative rates and false positive rates (families are going to look very similar – if your trying to prevent your daughter who looks a lot like her mom from accessing the gun, this could be a problem if the wife is the owner, or some other similar scenarios, like identical twins, etc. Then you have the recognition “racial” demographic biases, non-whites will find this product to have a much higher rate of false positives and will prevent the gun owner from accessing, especially in a need to defend type of situation.
Con#5 “quick to lock”: The manufacturer states that this product locks near immediately so anything from changing your hand grip location, changing the grip force from loose to tight, to switching hands temporarily and with the reliability factors, could lock out the owner when needed in a scenario where you are walking your house looking for the “source” of the late noise.
Con#6 “Software reliability and upgrades”: Since no one has been able to independently verify it at this moment we have to rely on the manufacturers statement that this is what they are doing and given their descriptions we can assume that they are probably doing what they claim they are. However, at some point we can trust but will need to verify; take the electronics apart and verify no Wi-Fi/Bluetooth or other radio communications chips or antennas are on the motherboard(s) and also to have a radio spectrum analyzer running to see if broadcasts are occurring. Also how is full manufacturer reset, or software updates (bugs/fixes) deployed when owners change in the case of reselling, or in the case of bequeathing to new a owner, or fixing a software flaw, or software algorithm improvements