Research Outline

Social Distancing Monitoring Solutions

Goals

To build a list of vendors who provide social distancing monitoring solutions and an overview on best practices developed by other states / cities; policies/ordinances issued to enable the implementation of similar solutions; "RFI/RFP/RFQ examples of agencies which already procured/implemented similar solutions.

Early Findings

Two U.S vendors that provide social distancing monitoring solutions are Distance Assistant (Amazon) and RightCrowd.

Distance Assistant (Amazon)

  • A website link to Amazon's Distance Assistant is provided herein.
  • On June 16, 2020, Amazon announced that it had "developed a new artificial intelligence system to help maintain social distancing in its warehouses, and it plans to share the underlying technology for free."
  • The technology involves a 50-inch monitor, camera, and laptop set up on amount, which tracks how closely people are walking near one other and shows workers walking by the device augmented-reality circles around them.
  • The circles remain green if people are six feet apart but turn red if they get too close.
  • The first Distance Assistant systems have already been set up in some Amazon buildings, with plans to deploy hundreds of these devices in the coming weeks. This will help in providing employees with immediate visual feedback.
  • The software used in Distance Assistant will be provided as open-source, so other companies can create their own similar devices without paying Amazon a licensing fee.
  • A video description of its operation technique is provided herein.

RightCrowd