Keeping in tune with its mandate to promote kids safety through technology, Darnestown, Maryland-based Stelor Productions has designed specific software tools that allow kids to work with their parents to gain customizable and safe access to the internet via their home computers.

Its new PIXKEY encryption authentication system will give kids custom password-protected access to a computer by clicking on a programmed image, such as a fish in an aquarium or clowns at a carnival, in sequence. To enter a password, the images have to be manipulated properly, such as dragging the selected fish into an underwater cave. The chosen pictures then spin off a password close to 10,000 characters in length, making it very difficult to hack. The password system will work in conjunction with another one of Stelor’s new creations – the KidOS operating system. The OS will give parents the option of offering their kids a fully customizable interface that authenticates age-appropriate sites while enabling parents to permit or lock their kids out of sites accordingly. Stelor CEO Steven A. Esrig says the system will also adapt to the child’s usage patterns over time.

The software should be market ready for the first quarter of 2007 and Stelor is now seeking partners for licensing, distribution and retail.