DON’T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME
Device helps workers stay apart
Four months ago, the term “social distancing” wasn’t even on the lexicon radar. Now it’s a mantra worldwide.
And four months ago, Montreal tech manufacturers Jarred Knecht, John Soares and Steve Zimmerman were focused largely on their respective companies.
Then came the coronavirus and a new reality.
It didn’t take this trio long to realize their manufacturing abilities and the protection of their workers would be impacted severely without physical distancing measures.
So they joined forces to form Social Distancer Technologies. Its first creation is the Social Distancer, a one-inch thick, wearable device the size of a credit card that can attach to a belt and instantly calculate distance between workers. It alerts employees if co-workers are within 2.5 metres of one another. If so, the device will flash red, vibrate and audibly alert employees to move farther away.
Short of having the Police tune Don’t Stand So Close to Me blaring throughout factories, the device should serve, in a non-threatening manner, to have workers back off — gently.
“It’s not a force-field, just a reliable nudge,” Knecht explains.
And with news that manufacturing is set to resume here and elsewhere shortly, the timing for the release of the Social Distancer would seem most opportune. According to Knecht, the company’s chief operating officer, the Social Distancer is in production with deliveries slated for the third week of May.
The idea to develop the device initially was a plan by its three founders to keep production going at their respective electrical and mechanical technology facilities during these turbulent times. Then word got out and employers in the manufacturing, warehousing and food-processing fields around the continent began showing interest.
In fact, the device’s applications are wide-ranging and eventually could be adapted for stores, restaurants, movie theatres and sporting and concert venues.
But price would be an issue for latter usage. At present, cost of a single Social Distancer device and a charging unit is $199. It lasts 10 to 12 hours on a single charge. (A portion of the proceeds from every device sold will go to a COVID -19 relief fund in the country where the product is sold.)
“It’s a device meant for businesses now — not for the consumer just yet,” says Knecht, whose primary occupation is serving as president of Promark Electronics, a Montreal-based manufacturer since 1987. “However, prices would certainly come down with mass consumer production.
“Manufacturers want to cut down on high absenteeism due to coronavirus fears. With people returning to work, they’ll be rightfully nervous about maintaining distance from one another. When you look at food-processing plants which have had virus issues, the cost of closing down for a day or a week is significantly more than an employer providing this device to its employees. The loss in efficiency and productivity can be massive.”
Knecht and his partners already had hired nurses, provided gloves and masks and undertook massive disinfecting in an effort to protect their 1,000 employees, collectively.
“But we quickly realized the biggest concern of employees was how to stop themselves from a human behaviour, which is constantly coming closer together in a meeting or work setting. So that’s what led to this.
“The feedback has been great from everyone from manufacturers, distributors, grocery stores and even events producers wondering how they are going to ever get people coming back to an indoor/outdoor event and to maintain that distance.”
What potential purchasers like is that there is no investment in infrastructure required for the device. Nor is there any software licence needed or are there any antennas to install. The device is immediately deployable right out of the box.
“There are stories about some companies coming out with phone apps and other tracking devices still in prototype and not yet in production,” Knecht says. “But what we didn’t want was a product that would have privacy concerns, that would trace employee walking patterns. We didn’t want to become the police here. We want to give people a tool they will actually use and will be useful, not something they will put in a drawer because they think they’re just going to be tracked all day.”
While the device’s focus now is manufacturer-oriented, Knecht notes that conversations have taken place with government agencies and business associations about what kind of tool kits could be provided to all entrepreneurs to help them reopen operations safely.
“This is one of the tools that could be put into one of these kits,” Knecht says. “But one thing is certain: none of this new reality is going away without a vaccine. Physical distancing will be us for quite a while.”