Singapore
Singapore has come up with a new way to remind citizens of the importance of social distancing in the age of the coronavirus. Authorities have decided to use a robot ‘dog’ to ensure people do their best to stay away from each other.
The government announced on Friday that it would deploy Spot, Boston Dynamics’ famous yellow and black canine robot at a local park.
The robot ‘dog’ will patrol the park and broadcast a pre-recorded message to people, reminding them of the importance of staying away from each other.
Equipped with cameras, the robot will be able to scan their surroundings and help officials gauge the number of people assembling in parks or other public places. “These cameras will not be able to track and/or recognize specific individuals, and no personal data will be collected,” said the government.
Singapore will test the project in one park, during off-peak hours, for two weeks. If it becomes a success, authorities may consider expanding the programme. The development came as the country experienced a new wave of the coronavirus, after Singapore was widely hailed as being one of the few countries to have recovered swiftly from the virus’ impact.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, Singapore’s coronavirus cases shot up from 266 to 21,707 cases since March 17. This is not the first technological measure that Singapore has come up with to contain the virus, though.—AFP
