Connecticut suburb deploys ‘pandemic drones’ to attempt to implement social distancing

Imposing social distancing throughout the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic is a tough thing to do, however the rural town of Westport, Connecticut, may have discovered the most over-the-top solution yet: deploying specialized cops drones to yell at people who aren’t standing 6 feet apart, as spotted by Gizmodo

In a post on Facebook revealing the new drone program, the Westport Authorities Department keeps in mind that the drones will not be used on local’s personal backyards, nor will they be using facial acknowledgment innovation. Still, it’s difficult not to picture possible personal privacy concerns for drones that are flying around and keeping track of people’s physical locations.

” The goal to offer much better health tracking assistance for prospective at-risk groups, consisting of elders, as well as for gathering crowds at beaches, train stations, parks and recreation locations, and shopping. It will not be used in specific private yards, nor does it use facial acknowledgment innovation,” the department’s post checks out.

The business behind the drones, Draganfly, is making some pretty big claims about what it can do, stating that the “pandemic drone” uses “specialized sensor and computer vision systems” in order to track individuals with fevers or high temperatures, heart and respiratory rates, people sneezing and coughing in crowds, and big groups of individuals congregating. Draganfly also declares that its drone can find “transmittable conditions from a range of 190 feet.”

It’s not clear how accurate any of those measurement claims are– Draganfly does not make any diagnostic claims in its press release, keeping in mind that the objective of the program is to assist track more comprehensive patterns for cities or towns– nor does Westport PD discuss how it will use this information to assist battle the spread of the infection.

But together with those larger claims is a far more simple function: measuring when individuals are less than six feet part and signaling them to practice better social distancing. It’s something that we’ve currently seen civilians make with drones, as seen in New York City previously in April when a self-proclaimed “volunteer drone task force” flew a drone in a park that reminded individuals to appropriately social distance.

While drones may appear like a ridiculous method to ask people to stop gathering together, it’s not totally ridiculous, given that the remote nature of the technology indicates that officers do not have to directly break up crowds and potentially risk infection themselves.