DigitalPPE: low cost wearable that acts as a social distancingreminder and contact tracer

Abstract

The novel coronavirus, designated by the World Health Organization as COVID-19 has required many countries around the world to close work spaces, schools and public venues. This has required policy makers and venue managers to investigate practical mitigation strategies using technology to exit the lockdown safely and enable the reopening of public spaces. This paper introduces Digital personal protective equipment (PPE), a dynamic and affordable wearable approach that remind people to keep their distance and keep track of their contact traces. This IoT based BLE probing technique approach empowers employers, city and venue managers to encourage social-distancing and trigger a friendly alert using vibration when social distancing is violated in privacy-preserving manner.