Watch: Here’s how Boston Dynamics’ robot dog encourages social distancing [video]
South Africa is still dealing with the fallout caused by the deaths of citizens at the hands of the SANDF and a shortage of PPE that has put soldiers and police at risk.
While we’re coming to terms with that, the Singapore government have called in help from an unlikely source to help it in its attempts to keep their citizens safe during the pandemic.
Spot, the ‘social distancing narc’
The new recruit is Spot the robot developed Boston Dynamics. For those of you who somehow haven’t heard of Spot before, you should definitely go over to YouTube now and have a look at the impressive work Boston Dynamics have done.
Spot will be deployed by the Singapore government “to assist safe distancing efforts at parks, gardens and nature reserves.” So essentially it will be roaming around open public spaces doing its best to remind Singapore citizens to maintain safe distances.
Spot is being introduced on an initial two-week pilot. For the period Spot will be patrolling during off-peak periods. Spot will play a recorded message reminding citizens to observe a safe distance.
Watch: Boston Dynamics’ Spot in action
Reducing manpower
For the length of the pilot, a human ranger will be deployed as well in case Spot runs into any unexpected problems while making its rounds. The Singapore government notes in its release:
“Spot will be controlled remotely, reducing the manpower required for park patrols and minimising physical contact among staff, volunteer safe distancing ambassadors and park visitors. This lowers the risk of exposure to the virus.”
Should the trial go well, it’s expected that the Singapore government will be considering rolling out more four-legged robots in its other public spaces.
If the videos are anything to go by though it doesn’t seem like Singapore’s population is quite ready for Spot.
Watch: Spot spotted elsewhere in public
Using tech to police the populous during the pandemic
The poor citizens can be seen getting rather uncomfortable when being followed by what looks like it could be created by Skynet as a pet for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Hopefully, Spot will be able to win over the public, and we’ll see more robots roaming the streets. Spain made headlines back in March when it started using drones to shout at people who wouldn’t stay indoors.
Spot can also walk, trot, avoid obstacles, climb stairs, and much more. As much as I love drones, give me a four-legged robot dog that can open doors, jump and even rock some killer dance moves any day. Yes, dance:
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