COVID Robocop: The Droid That Reminds You to Wear Your Mask

The feature is an upgrade of Pepper, a 120 centimetre (47 inch) high robot with human-like features.

By Reuters | Updated: 11 September 2020 16:10 IST

COVID Robocop: The Droid That Reminds You to Wear Your Mask

If the lower half of the face is uncovered, Pepper says, "You have to always wear a mask properly"

Highlights

The idea is to provide a friendly reminder, said Jonathan Boiria
SoftBank Robotics is the company behind Pepper
Pepper's camera scans the faces of people approaching it

Engineers have developed a robot that can detect whether people are wearing a mask to guard against COVID-19 and, if not, politely remind them to put one on.

The feature is an upgrade of Pepper, a 120 centimetre (47 inch) high robot with human-like features that is already in operation in some countries welcoming visitors to shops, exhibitions and other public spaces.

Pepper's camera scans the faces of people approaching it, and if it detects the lower half of their face is uncovered, it pronounces the phrase: "You have to always wear a mask properly."

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

If it sees that the visitor then puts on a mask, the robot follows up with the phrase: "Thank you for having put on your mask."

The idea is not to have a robot police whether people are wearing masks, but to provide a friendly reminder, said Jonathan Boiria, head of sales in Europe for SoftBank Robotics, the company behind Pepper.

"Shops have to assign people at the entrance, a lot of people, to ensure respect for the wearing of masks, and sometimes that is a stretch," Boiria told Reuters in Paris.

"A robot allows you to free up some people so they can focus on their normal tasks."

"We're all human. Sometimes I take off my mask when I get off the bus and I forget to put it back on when I arrive at the office. The robot provides a reminder. We can all get it wrong or forget."

© Thomson Reuters 2020

Is Android One holding back Nokia smartphones in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.