Airspace releases drone software to monitor social distancing

US-based company Airspace Systems has reportedly developed new software to monitor face masks and social distancing using drones.

A report from Reuters stated that the new software can be used with drones and ground-based cameras.

The use of drones allows the operator to save time by eliminating the setup process while also offering flexibility.

Once the drone captures videos of a given area, the software helps in identifying whether people are following social distancing or not in real-time.

It can also find out the formation of clusters or crowding of people at certain places such as bus stops or subway stations.

Additionally, the system detects how many people are wearing face masks.

The company is considering selling the system to cities and police departments.

Airspace chief executive Jaz Banga was quoted by Reuters as saying: “You can design better barriers. You can disinfect that area if you’re allowed to do that in that area. It just gives you more targeting to create safer environments.”

Furthermore, Airspace noted that the system does not threaten the privacy of the people. It said that the system is designed not to make use of facial recognition or send images or videos of the people to the operator.

The software transmits information in the form of text.

Last month, not-for-profit integrated healthcare system Novant Health and on-demand logistics service provider Zipline partnered to launch America’s first emergency drone logistics operation amid the Covid-19 pandemic.