We’ve been hearing for years how robots, for better or worse, were going to change our lives. Now in the battle against the highly contagious COVID-19, we’re seeing them in a whole new light. Of course it all begins with the fact that, no, robots can’t get infected. Winks aside, these artificially-intelligent machines are allowing people to avoid physical contact and maintain social distancing, easing the burden on health providers, helping police officers to implement lockdowns, and allowing people to better face life under quarantine.
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Health: The most urgent need robots are filling is as healthcare assistants. In Italy, hospitals are turning to robots to replace doctors and nurses and keep them safe from the virus. A child-size robot named Tommy allows care providers to avoid direct contact with patients and limit the use of masks, able to monitor the equipment’s parameters in a room and record messages from patients, to transfer them to the staff.
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Law & Order: The interior ministry in Tunisia has deployed a police robot in the country’s capital Tunis to make sure its inhabitants are observing the coronavirus lockdown, reports Jeune Afrique. The four-wheeled robot is equipped with a camera and controlled remotely by officers, in order to check pedestrian’s ID or other papers. Drones have also been used in several countries to reinforce patrolling of certains areas. According to Le Monde, in France for instance, police officers used drones to scan beaches where people were still taking walks despite the lockdown, or to broadcast social distancing guidelines.
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Being there: Robots have also undertaken unexpected social roles during the crisis, allowing people to be present at big life events. With the help of “Newme” avatar robots, the Business Breakthrough University in Tokyo, Japan, was able to hold a virtual graduation ceremony. The remotely controlled robots were equipped with a tablet that used video-conferencing tool Zoom and were dressed in graduation caps and gowns. This allowed students to experience the celebration of walking on the stage to accept their diplomas. In the United States, a father who was in quarantine in California after travelling on the Grand Princess cruise ship, was able to attend his daughter’s wedding in Arizona with a help of a “telepresence robot” the family nicknamed the “Papabot”, Voice of America reports.
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