- Title: COVID 'Robocop' reminds you to wear your mask
- Date: 8th September 2020
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 8, 2020) (REUTERS) PEPPER'S FACE PEPPER WAVING, WITH SCREEN SHOWING PERSON IDENTIFIED AS "MASK" (SOUNDBITE) (French) HUMANOID ROBOT NAMED PEPPER, WHICH CAN DETECT NON-MASKED FACES AND ASK PEOPLE TO PUT ON MASK, PEPPER, SAYING: "I'm here to welcome people and see if they're wearing a mask." (SOUNDBITE) (French) HUMANOID ROBOT NAMED PEPPER, WHICH CAN DETECT NON-MASKED FACES AND ASK PEOPLE TO PUT ON MASK, PEPPER, SAYING: "I know that you're wearing a mask if the lower part of your face is hidden." GOPRO FOOTAGE FROM PEPPER'S POINT OF VIEW OF SOFTBANK ROBOTICS WORKERS, ONE WITHOUT MASK, WALKING TOWARDS ROBOT WORKER NOT WEARING MASK PEPPER SCREEN SHOWING READING "NO MASK" GOPRO FOOTAGE FROM PEPPER'S POINT OF VIEW SHOWING NON-MASKED PERSON, AUDIO OF PEPPER SAYING (French): "I'm not sure everyone is wearing a mask" / PERSON PUTTING ON MASK WORKER PUTTING ON MASK PEPPER MOVING HEAD PEPPER WITH SCREEN SHOWING PERSON WEARING MASK, SAYING (French): "I'm happy that you're wearing a mask" SCREEN SHOWING MASKED FACE ROBOT POSTER ON BOARD SOFTBANK ROBOTICS HEAD OF SALES IN EUROPE, JONATHAN BOIRIA, INTERACTING WITH ROBOT (SOUNDBITE) (French) SOFTBANK ROBOTICS HEAD OF SALES IN EUROPE, JONATHAN BOIRIA, SAYING: "It's a reminder, a little reminder. You know, we're human, sometimes I happen to remove my mask as I get off the bus because I forget (the rules) and to put it on as I enter the office because the robot reminds me to. It's important, we all make mistakes, we all forget." PEPPER'S HEAD PEPPER AT SOFTBANK ROBOTICS ENTRANCE, MAN PUTTING ON HAND GEL IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF PEPPER STANDING AT OFFICE ENTRANCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) SOFTBANK ROBOTICS HEAD OF SALES IN EUROPE, JONATHAN BOIRIA, SAYING: "Businesses and stores have to have a lot of staff at their entrances to ensure people are wearing masks, and we know that sometimes, there are tense situations with that. A robot allows to free up some staff so that they can focus on their normal activities, which are not necessarily on ensuring mask-wearing is respected, and also to ease down some of these tensions and avoid for it to be seen as a police check, but rather to remind that it's important for everyone."
- Embargoed: 22nd September 2020 16:26
- Keywords: COVID-19 France Pepper Softbank Robotics face masks robot
- Location: PARIS AND LYON, FRANCE / UNKNOWN LOCATIONS
- City: PARIS AND LYON, FRANCE / UNKNOWN LOCATIONS
- Country: France
- Topics: Europe,France,Health/Medicine,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA003CUTW6YV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Engineers have developed a robot that can detect whether people are wearing a mask to guard against COVID-19 and, if not, politely remind them to put one on.
The feature is an upgrade of Pepper, a 120 cm (47 inch) high robot with human-like features that is already in operation in some countries welcoming visitors to shops, exhibitions and other public spaces.
Pepper's camera scans the faces of people approaching it, and if it detects the lower half of their face is uncovered, it pronounces the phrase: "You have to always wear a mask properly."
If it sees that the visitor then puts on a mask, the robot follows up with the phrase: "Thank you for having put on your mask."
The idea is not to have a robot police whether people are wearing masks, but to provide a friendly reminder, said Jonathan Boiria, head of sales in Europe for SoftBank Robotics, the company behind Pepper.
"Shops have to assign people at the entrance, a lot of people, to ensure respect for the wearing of masks, and sometimes that is a stretch," Boiria told Reuters in Paris on Tuesday (September 8).
"A robot allows you to free up some people so they can focus on their normal tasks."
Pepper has been previously placed in German supermarkets to ensure social distancing in the early months of the pandemic.
Boiria said the robot can cost between 17,000 and 20,000 euros, with prices depending on the various functionalities of the droid.
(Production: Emilie Delwarde, Ardee Napolitano) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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