Italian IT and communications firm Partitalia is known for producing smart cards, RFID (radio frequency identification) tags and other forms of ID tags, but earlier this year it started making wearable devices that track social distancing in response to Covid-19.
The “Close-to-me” wearable device is small and unobtrusive, designed to be worn around the wrist or the neck all day long without becoming uncomfortable, reports Healthcare.
When worn by two or more people present in the same room, it monitors "social distancing" based on a variable distance that can be set according to directives and regulations.
This is how "Close-to-me" works:
Using radiofrequency technology, it creates a non-invasive, low-frequency radio bubble around the person.
A sound and vibration warn wearers when the set distance is not respected.
Moreover, through simple adaptations, the device can be used to control accesses, detect presences and pay the company canteen.
Alfredo Salvatore, CEO of Sensor ID, an engineering company that designed the technology for Partitalia, describes the new product which is already in demand in view of the imminent re-opening of businesses: "Close-to-me can be personalized and purchased either as a wristband or key-ring: it is non-invasive, designed above all to simplify procedures involved in re-opening businesses and can be implemented easily and rapidly."
S.I.BE.G. srl, one of Coca Cola’s bottling companies, purchased 550 of the devices to track social distancing between employees at its plants in Catania, Sicily, and Tirana, capital of Albania.
Read more: How Technology Is Helping Employers Reopen Their Businesses After COVID-19 Lockdown
“In March, at the peak of the Covid-19 emergency, the company set up a task force to define and implement appropriate safety measures, including the indispensable adoption of a system that would help us observe social distancing rules” explains Gaetano Russo, S.I.BE.G. srl Procurement Manager.
“We needed a simple but effective device, something that would remind employees and everyone present in the plant to keep a distance of one and a half to two meters from each other. We needed something that was light to wear, an acoustically non-invasive device, but that performed this function.
