After the arrival of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) into our lives more than a year ago, although some experts agree that the first cases very possibly took place in China before November 2019, terms such as quarantine or isolation they have been part of our daily lives ever since.
Thus, while quarantine means staying in a specific place, in a preventive way, to limit a possible spread of COVID-19 (the disease caused by the new coronavirus), isolation means staying at home because we are sick or because, finally We have tested positive for the coronavirus.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agree, it is necessary to quarantine as soon as we feel sick even if we have not yet tested positive for COVID-19, if we have had contact from high risk with someone who has tested positive, or under certain circumstances, through measures established in our country by the Ministry of Health (for example, in the case of foreigners who arrive in Spain, especially from some countries with a higher rate of infections) .
In any case, the quarantine prevents us from continuing our day to day as we normally do , which tends to last around 15 days, which forces us to remain locked up at home or in the same room (when we live with more people), so it is not possible to have direct physical contact with family and friends.
In these cases, throughout the entire pandemic, there is no doubt that technology has once again become our greatest ally , offering us the possibility of immediate contact with other people, through text messages, chats or video calls. .
Now, researchers from the Integrated Systems Engineering Group of the University of Malaga (UMA) have been commissioned to design a telepresence robot that offers the possibility, to people who suffer from COVID-19 or are in quarantine, to talk with their loved ones .
Although this group of researchers has been working on social robotics for more than a decade, within the so-called ROSI project , it is now that they have endowed this new design with a series of additional functions in order to adapt it to the different pandemic needs that have arisen. throughout the last year, with the main objective of facilitating the work of nursing professionals both in hospitals and in homes .
Thus, they have made it possible for people who are isolated (quarantined) in a room to have a video call with family and friends without any risk, regardless of their ability to use new technologies.
How does this procedure work?
To use this service, a family member or friend of the isolated or quarantined person reserves an hour for a video call, all through a very simple web interface. The robot is able to start autonomously , and, according to protocol, goes to the counter to be disinfected. Then you go to the room and start the video call at the scheduled time. When this is finished, it returns to the area where it is disinfected, and finally passes to its resting place.
The robot has a height of just over one meter. It has a cylindrical or pedestal-shaped body and has a simple expressive capacity, audiovisual communication capacity and can move autonomously in common scenarios typical of our daily lives.
But it also has other very interesting functions. For example, you might be able to announce daily events in common areas of nursing homes, in the same way that a “town crier” would, or even offer the ability to share and view photos for seniors.
