With hyperfocus on what life will be like once lockdowns end, many are wondering just how to contain the spread of coronavirus once folks return to work, school, and public spaces. Now Chinese startup Rokid is marketing its thermal detection glasses for coronavirus detection. They work like something from a Mission Impossible-style spy movie, and they’re the latest in the long list of inventions to help the fight against coronavirus.
Based in Hangzhou and with an office in San Francisco, Rokid was working on augmented reality glasses prior to the coronaviurs pandemic. When the outbreak hit, they shifted to developing thermal imaging glasses in January. Now, the T1 glasses are used in China and are being marketed to US businesses, hospitals, and law enforcement agencies, Tech Crunch reports.
The glasses are equipped with an infrared sensor and a camera, allowing the wearer to “see” peoples’ temperatures from up to 10 feet away. And, like famous spy-movie glasses, they can also capture pictures and videos. The latest T1 model can measure temperature for up to 200 people in two minutes, showing potential for crowded public spaces like malls, transportation centers and offices. Its ability to detect temperature from further away unlike typical, bulkier thermal detection devices also protects the wearer through social distancing.
Tech Crunch reports that California based e-commerce company Weee! is already considering Rokid’s T1 glasses to monitor temperatures of its warehouse employees.
Rokid claims they do not store any personal information on their own databases.
“Regarding this module…we do not take any data to the cloud. For customers, privacy is very important to them. The data measurement is stored locally,” according to Liang Guan, Rokid’s US Director, Tech Crunch reports.
For those that don’t conduct regular temperature checks, they can be alerted when their detected temperature is high so they can self-quarantine or get tested. However, elevated temperature or fever is not the only symptom of coronavirus, so those that bypass the temperature detection can still carry the virus unknowingly.
Thermal Detection Glasses — Sources
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Tech Crunch