Google Sodar to Help Maintain Social Distance: Is It Necessary Yet?

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• Google Sodar to Help Maintain Social Distance: Is It Necessary Yet?

While locks are being replaced by unlocking across India, the importance of social distancing as a means of curbing the spread of Covid-19 contacts takes on greater importance. Google has now stepped in with an augmented reality app that could help keep a safe distance. SODAR is currently available on Android phones. Users can simply open the Chrome browser and go to the web page to get started. Right now, users don't need to download anything even if it doesn't work on iOS or even older Android devices.

Sodar - Use WebXR to view social distancing guidelines in your environment. Using Sodar on compatible mobile devices, create a two meter radius augmented reality ring around you. #hacktohelp https://t.co/Bu78QrEN9f pic.twitter.com/kufatNFDQk28 May 2020 The phone starts using augmented reality on the map around your location, then superimposes a two meter radius circle on the view of the camera. So once connected, you are constantly monitoring the camera on your phone. While testing it, I found that the accuracy was well within the acceptable range, although at times it felt like it wasn't exactly two meters that the display seemed to suggest. Of course, the decision to get away from a person is up to you, because SODAR does not give instructions or warning signs in case of violation. Does it work better than the social distancing app called 1point5 (available on the Play Store) that the United Nations has envisioned to achieve the same results? No doubt because this app requires all users to be connected to Bluetooth, in the same way as India's Aarogya Setu app. SODAR by Google does not require users to install anything or the people around them to use their Bluetooth-enabled smartphones. Augmented reality uses WebXR to display a two-meter radius on the map and sets up a virtual ring on the screen using the camera. Will it eat up battery life? Like a camera.

After several weeks of development and iterations, we are proud to present # 1point5app, from @UN Technology Innovation Labs @UNTILabs. A story to come! Now available on @GooglePlay and @AppStore, find the download links at? https://t.co/UrkjDBMJRI#socialdistancing #flattenthecurve pic.twitter.com/hJgSpg9KXQApril 30, 2020

Does this all make sense?

What is the use of this tool during the next phase of unlocking Covid-19? Not much I'm afraid because anyone who wants to keep a safe distance certainly wouldn't need their phone to tell them about the safe area. That's why the eyes are there, right? Although the technology used is much better than existing apps in the form of Bluetooth beacons, the fact remains that operating the camera all the time in a busy lane won't exactly help users avoid contact. Also, this could be a recipe for contact with others, because the human body isn't exactly equipped with equipment that automatically steers us out of harm's way. So this seems like an intellectual exercise by "Experiments with Google" that created interesting and often catchy things using Chrome, although few of them have actually made it usable.