A local company has unveiled the world’s first smartphone-connected lockers at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2014, which kicked off in Busan Oct. 20.

Smart Box said on Wednesday it has set up 1,500 of its digital lockers at the venue for the convenience of the conference participants.

The smart lockers, which come with wireless communications modules, allow users to set the passwords via their smartphones. The company said its system has appealed to the participants whose main agenda happens to be technologies and standards related to the Internet of Things ― the interconnection of computing devices. 

“It is amazing that this locker system is connected to my smartphone without any wiring system or extra equipment. This can be considered a typical application of the Internet of Things,” said the communications policy chief of Industry Canada who attended the conference.

Other selling points are that the lockers are easy to install and cheaper than other products on the market.

“The installation of smart lockers is much simpler and one-third less expensive than that of existing lockers requiring a central control unit,” said Nah Ye-ryong, CEO of Smart Box.

Smart Box’s digital lockers do not require such a unit, as each locking system is directly connected to the users’ smartphone.

“We plan on expanding (this IoT technology) so it can be applied to other areas,” Nah said.

Supermarkets, subway stations, apartment buildings and dormitories are some of the places that Smart Box is looking at.

Currently, the company is in talks with local construction firms about installing the lockers in apartment buildings to help provide storage space for tenants.

Smart Box is only one among a spiraling number of Korean tech firms that are hopping on to the IoT bandwagon, as the related market is expected to be worth $19 trillion worldwide by 2020, according to the U.S. networking firm Cisco.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)