Case Description
At the very beginning of Covid19, the city of Amsterdam developed a digital system to show people whether the right distance is respected in public spaces. The system consists of a screen on a mobile truck, connected to a camera and a computer system that records passers-by and shows them on the screen with their faces covered by a smiley. A green smiley indicates a person is at a proper distance from others; a red smiley indicates a person is exceeding the minimal distance required, and an orange neutral smiley indicates a person is close to exceeding the minimal distance. The system not only offers real-time feedback to users of the place in question, but it also records the number of people passing by to indicate whether a place is getting too crowded.
Relation to Resilience
The project aims to show people in real-time whether they respect the 1,5m distancing rules. By doing so, it enables people to gather in open public spaces in a safer way, and helps cities to adapt to the Covid-19 circumstances while allowing public life to continue.