A lockbox opens when a magnet is moved across its surface in a programmed pattern, with no visible keyhole or keypad. An 8-by-8 array of 64 magnetic sensors tracks the motion; when the gesture matches the stored pattern, a servo releases the latch.

Creator Stephen Cass found that the sensor area was only about three centimeters square, making it difficult to trace the gesture reliably. He decorated the box with a Celtic knot pattern and used part of it as a disguised positioning guide.

The Snack Safe is a lockable container for treats that won't open until you've walked a set distance. To get to the food inside, you first have to earn access by walking.

Matty Benedetto of Unnecessary Inventions built the device around a pedometer-controlled locking mechanism and introduced it on his invention website.