Melissa Pender can be described as a gym regular. Five days a week, she, like many other UF students, travels to Southwest Recreation Center to take advantage of all the state-of-the-art equipment.
However, Pender has been plagued with a recurring problem that has hindered her workout plans-a lack of ID. Without her Gator 1 Card, Pender can't enter the gym.
"I must have lost mine at least three times since freshman year," said Pender, a journalism junior.
Now, as part of Southwest Rec's recent multi-million dollar renovation, students such as Pender won't need to worry about missing a workout due to a lost student ID.
Instead of waiting in line to get their Gator 1 Cards swiped, students can enter Southwest Rec by punching in their UF ID numbers and placing their hand on the gym's newly installed HandKeys.
David Bowles, the director of the Department of Recreational Sports at UF, said the staff had to undergo training to learn the HandKey software.
In less than two weeks, more than 10,000 students have enrolled in the system to use the HandKeys, said Pamela Hightower, coordinator of operations for UF's Department of Recreational Sports. Hightower said about 400 new students enroll a day.
With thousands of hands touching each machine a day some students have expressed concerns about the sanitation of the HandKeys.
"I never really thought about the cleanliness until I saw a really sweaty guy use the HandKey right before me," said Matt Heller, a freshman at UF.
Hightower said these students do not have to worry. The surfaces of the HandKeys are built with BioCote, an anti-microbial surface.
The HandKeys also undergo specialized weekly cleaning.
Although the technology is relatively new to UF, Southwest Rec officials remain optimistic the new feature will catch on.
"These HandKeys have the potential to be very useful in a lot of applications around campus," Bowles said.
