If businesses are to get reluctant workers back into the office, finding ways to maintain social distancing will be key. An Israeli company thinks it can help, using smart sensors mounted on workplace ceilings.
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Point Grab developed its technology before the pandemic to help workspace managers optimise how employees use office space. About the size of a smoke alarm, the sensors can record the exact number and location of people in buildings including offices, hotels and restaurants.
One of the company’s first clients was Deloitte, which installed the system at its flagship London office last year. Point Grab’s sensors were connected to screens in the building to show the availability of desks and shared areas in real time. Point Grab CEO Doron Shachar says it was one of a range of innovations that helped Deloitte fit 30% more people into 3% less space.
Now Point Grab has adapted the technology so the sensors can also monitor social distancing by keeping track of how far apart people are, and whether they’re traveling in one direction around a building.
Workspace managers can set up alerts for when two people are closer than two meters for more than 30 seconds, for example. ‘An organisation will choose what to do with that alert,’ Shachar tells CNN Business. ‘I don’t think that they should blow an alarm.’
The sensors have been included in the “six feet office” concept created by real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield to encourage employees to practice social distancing. They are currently being used in this way at a university in the Netherlands, and at an innovation hub in Belgium.
CNN