Spot, Singapore’s robot dog made headlines in The Straits Times this week, when it was out and about in parks encouraging social distancing. Spot, developed by Boston Dynamics is armed with a pre-recorded message and cameras that can scan the surroundings and estimate the numbers of people nearby.
For the moment, Spot is out with a handler, but in future has the potential to head out alone safeguarding park staff from exposure. Singapore has unleashed Spot for a two week trial to see whether it is effective in encouraging social distancing and to look at other ways to minimise the second wave of COVID infections.
In another first, the Singapore National Parks Board has teamed up with the Digital Government Group to develop and launch the Safe Distance at Parks portal to help the public look for a local park near and check the visitor levels before they leave home – helping people get out and about safely.
Drones along with park staff provide information on visitor numbers and density in parks and nature reserves.
It will be interesting to see the feedback from the trial, how people respond and whether it improves social distancing behaviour.