--- title: "Pandemic-Inspired AI Narcs You Out For Standing Too Close" description: "A new AI startup called Landing AI has developed a video tool that can tell if people in public are following social distancing rules." date: "2020-04-20" modified: "2020-04-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pandemic-ai-narcs-standing-too-close" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "the digest" --- # Pandemic-Inspired AI Narcs You Out For Standing Too Close ![A new AI startup called Landing AI has developed a video tool that can tell if people in public are following social distancing rules.]() *\Image: Landing AI\* ## Red Box AI startup Landing AI has developed a video tool that it says can tell if people in public are following social distancing rules. Social distancing has [proven to be]() a promising method to keep the coronavirus from spreading as we wait for scientists to come up with a vaccine. "Landing AI has developed an AI-enabled social distancing detection tool that can detect if people are keeping a safe distance from each other by analyzing real time video streams from the camera," reads a company [blog post about the software](). https://youtu.be/15iIV1Lff-M ## Keep Your Distance The company is hoping the system could allow certain workplaces to monitor their employees and make sure they are within a respectable distance of each other. Managers could easily keep check on workers. First, the camera system calibrates the input and adjusts what it sees for perspective. A neural network then detects individual pedestrians and draws a box around them. If two bounding boxes come too close within each other, they are highlighted in red. ## Bezos Style As [*Input* points out](), Amazon has already [implemented similar technology]() in its warehouses, warning its workers that violating social distancing rules could get them fired. "As medical experts point out, until a vaccine becomes available, social distancing is our best tool to help mitigate the coronavirus pandemic and as we open up the economy," reads the blog. **READ MORE:** [This tool can track social distancing in real-time]() \[*Input*\] **More on social distancing:** *[Facebook Is Taking Down Pages Organizing Anti-Quarantine Protests]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()