Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


App Shows What 6 Feet Away Looks Like

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 04/07/20
Social Distancing Trainer Shows What Six Feet Away Looks Like 

Two education organizations have created a free Apple iOS app to help demonstrate how far to stay away from other people to practice safe physical distancing. The program, "Social Distancing Trainer," was produced by Discovery Education and Afterschool Alliance. The app uses augmented reality to get the idea across.

Once the app is installed, the user finds a clear space and waits for the signal to press the screen. The student chooses imperial measurement or metric, and then a holographic image of a human figure appears, along with the distance between the figure and the student. The distance changes as the student moves closer or farther from the augmented figure, to give the learner a sense of how far away he or she should be for safe contact.

The trainer also provides information about the COVID-19 health crisis, using resources from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and the United Kingdom's National Health Service.

"Getting a true sense of safe social distancing can be challenging," said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant, in a statement. The app, she said, provides users with "an effective and cool way to see what social distancing looks like, all from the safety of their homes."

The app is currently available in the Apple App Store; a Google Android version will also be made available shortly via Google Play.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Blue digital wireframe classical building structure

    Before AI, Fix Your Data

    Institutions don't have to solve every data problem before they can begin using AI responsibly. But they do need to treat information as a strategic asset — not a byproduct of operations — and start building toward AI-ready data now.

  • Digital cyberspace with particles and Digital data

    Report: AI Is Moving Faster than Data Trust

    AI agents are already in use or pilot at most organizations, but data visibility, governance and precision recovery capabilities have not kept pace, according to Veeam's new Data & AI Trust Gap report.

  • digital partnership handshake with glowing network effect

    Microsoft and OpenAI Rework Alliance, Loosening Exclusive Ties

    Microsoft and OpenAI have adjusted the terms of their high-profile partnership, signaling a shift in how the two companies will collaborate as competition in the AI market intensifies.

  • cyber security padlock

    AI Adoption Forces Trade-Off Between Speed and Identity Security, Study Finds

    AI adoption is forcing enterprises to trade security for speed — and identity controls are the first casualty, according to a new report from Delinea, a provider of identity security solutions for both human and AI agent identities.