16.07.2020, 20:01
Wearable Vibrating Tags Alert of Social Distancing Breaches
Advanced Industrial Marketing (AIM) has announced the U.S. launch of social distancing and people counting tools targeted at industrial warehouse operators and major retailers.
The launch of EGOpro Active Tag and LASE PeCo follows a successful European pilot to assess the effectiveness of the tools in ensuring employees and customers observe social distance restrictions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped how businesses operate around the globe. Manufacturing facilities, warehouses and meat packaging plants are conducting essential work but frequently find it difficult to adjust to and maintain six feet (2 meter) CDC-recommended social distancing guidelines.
Referred to as “wearable tech” by the company, the EGOpro Active Tag utilizes UWB radio technology to measure the distance between two tags with a constant radio pulse. Tags are designed to vibrate when their wearers are too close to each other, and also provide a visual alert via a flashing red LED. In addition to wearable tags, sensors can be set in facility “hotspots” like entrances, break rooms and bathrooms to ensure social distancing is maintained off the floor and in heavily trafficked areas.
As Rob Hruskoci, owner and CEO of Advanced Industrial Marketing, explains: “The usage of this technology in the current pandemic is groundbreaking.
“Employees can see how much room they have to work with one another, and employers can use this data to reconfigure workspaces to maintain the minimum safe distance while operating.”
Tags are designed to be worn on an individual’s wrist or belt, but there are opportunities to deploy them more widely, such as on shopping carts in grocery stores or with self-guided tour technology at museums.
Each EGOpro Active Tag is equipped with a unique serial number and has the potential to be connected to a custom software solution. This can be used for counting the number of people in a given area, keeping track on how long they are in certain areas, and even sending alerts to managers if there is overcrowding. Additionally, in a situation where a facility may have been exposed to COVID-19, the software could be used for contact tracing using the device’s individual serial numbers.
Even before the global coronavirus pandemic, venues needed a way to measure traffic, venue capacity and busy or quiet areas to reduce wait times or congestion. This capacity verification technology has also been adapted to today’s social distancing guidelines. Also referred to as ‘people counting,’ capacity verification uses 3D cameras to measure the number of people in a given area. LASE PeCo has specialized in using multiple technologies to monitor passenger frequency in industrial, municipal and entertainment locations for more than 25 years.
Today, the LASE Pe(ople)Co(unter) uses standalone 3D cameras to measure how many people are in a small space, such as an art gallery. For larger locations, like food courts or college campuses, LASE PeCo deploys its laser solution that uses a laser grid system to measure the number of people within the open space.
“The laser technology is smart enough to tell the difference between adults, children and shopping carts, but it can’t discern gender or any other identifying features as part of a surveillance system,” says Hruskoci, before adding: “When the system detects too many individuals in a given area, it sends an alert to the designated manager on duty to break up any overcrowding.”
The PeCo software is highly customizable and can send alerts via email or text to managers. This software can also be integrated with gates, doors or alarms to notify people in the area when there is too much crowding or the area has reached maximum capacity.
As economies reopen and buildings, venues and businesses incorporate social distancing guidelines for visitors and employees, these non-invasive, customizable technology solutions can help streamline the process to optimize efficiency while keeping individuals safe. EGOpro and LASE PeCo are available now.
Visit www.advindmktg.com for additional information.
