Covid -19 AND Digital signage Business opportunities Coronavirus and touchscreens


“Human coronaviruses can remain infectious on inanimate surfac- es at room temperature for up to 9 days. At a temperature of 30°C or more the duration of persistence is shorter,” said The New En- gland Journal of Medicine in March 2020. Researchers put the virus through 10 experimental conditions, comparing how they behaved in aerosols, and on plastic, stainless steel, copper, and cardboard. Their results suggest that the virus remains active: on copper for up to four hours; on cardboard up to 24 hours; and on plastic and stain- less steel up to two to three days. So could digital signage spread the disease?


The authors of the NEJM tests also provided graphs from the research showing how long the "half-life" of the Covid-19 on each of these five surfaces. They also note that is import- ant to consider that this exper- iment was done in a lab, and a lab is nothing like the outside world, where conditions can't be rigorously


controlled. But


the findings do suggest that people may acquire the virus after touching contaminated objects.


“The virus can clearly survive for many hours on surfaces,” said Linsey Marr, professor in Civil and Environmental Engi- neering at Virginia Tech. “Even if someone has not touched that surface, it may be contam- inated with droplets from an in- fected person, and if you touch the surface, you can potentially pick up the virus and transfer it to your eyes, nose, or mouth.” The airborne hazard


But what about other ways of being infected by coronavirus? What about, for example, the situation where digital signage draws a crowd? The virus can remain airborne for a time in aerosols, but it appears not to linger in large enough volumes to spread via air unless you are in the immediate vicinity of an infected person at the same time. This is in contrast to other viruses, like measles, which can infect someone via airborne virus even after the infectious person has left the vicinity.


“This is not evidence of aero-


sol transmission,” Neeltje van Doremalen, a co-author of the study: “I don’t think it is nor- mally transmitted via aerosols.


But sometimes, health care workers perform aerosol-pro- ducing procedures, like intuba- tion. In that situation, it could be important to be aware of its viability in aerosols,” van Dore- malen explained. So while the study “is not evidence of air- borne transmission via aerosols — it is evidence for the poten- tial


of airborne transmission.


It reinforces the importance of airborne precautions,” said Don Milton, professor of Envi- ronmental Health at University of Maryland.


The conclusion is, that if the virus is contained in aero- sol droplets small enough to remain aloft for more than an hour, then the highest chance of transmission happens if you inhale these tiny droplets near the infected person. That means, no one should assume that close-range contamination only occurs if droplets land on the eyes, nostrils, lips, or other exposed skin. You may also be able to breathe in the virus via these droplets.


Reducing the risks


Everyone needs to know the risks and that there are simple things to do to reduce them. Simple they might be but easy not necessarily so. For example, another study published during the first week of March in JAMA zoomed in on three people with COVID-19 in isolation in Sin- gapore. The researchers took surface environmental samples of 26 different sites around the patients.


Although the air was clear, the environment around the peo- ple with coronavirus did show


In today’s new normal where hygiene is key, sanitiser kiosks are becoming an essential part of everyday life. “Combining an auto hand-sanitiser with a versatile digital signage display, our plug ‘n’ play solution ensures that you are making the right investment to protect your staff and customers.”


signs of contamination with the virus. For example, the toilet bowl and sink samples tested positive for the virus. Samples from air vents tested positive too, once again suggesting that virus encased in tiny droplets might travel through air. In essence, this ease of trans- mission means that Covid-19 is infinitely more challeng- ing to control. We also have a poor understanding of whether catching and recovering from Covid-19 completely prevents you from catching the virus again and passing it on to others. Together, these factors mean that the virus will most likely settle into the human population, becoming an en- demic every winter.


While we haven’t been able to watch this “post-pandemic” scenario unfold for other hu- man coronaviruses (although it is strongly suspected that this has occurred in the not too distant past), we have ample evidence that this occurs with other viral infections. Over the last 100 years or so we have had five influenza pandemics, and descendants of the most recent pandemic influenza vi- rus continue to circulate in the population more than a decade later.


Given that we do not know how long any natural immunity to Covid-19 lasts, nor whether it is capable of blocking infec- tion completely or only symp- toms, it’s not clear that the virus could ever burn itself out. Currently, the only option re- mains to suppress Covid-19 as much as possible until we have a safe and effective vaccine available to the masses. To this end, the onus is on suppliers to limit spread of the virus in the community until such time as a vaccine is widely available.


Barriers to entry Technology suppliers


are do-


ing their bit to contribute to the control or eradication of Covid-19. There are several chains of thought here with the first being to limit access to public spaces by infected indi- viduals. Ahead of the reopening of public spaces, audio-visu- al specialists, Handy AV have launched HandyCHECKPOINT, a thermal detector which mea- sures the skin temperature of individuals in high-traffic pub- lic places.


Said to be deal for high-foot- fall environments such as re- tail, supermarkets, stations and public services, HandyCHECK- POINT provides peace of mind for businesses operating in in-


New technology from Philips Professional Display Solutions is said to be helping to reignite the food and beverage industry by preventing overcrowding and encouraging social distancing.


creasingly populated places by detecting the temperature of each individual. The device is said to ensure they provide safe environments for their custom- ers and employees as lockdown restrictions begin to ease. As individuals pass in front of a high-resolution, non-contact AI thermal detector, their skin temperature is automatical- ly measured in


milliseconds,


which will alert a person with an elevated temperature to seek additional screening. In line with government guidelines, HandyCHECKPOINT uses fa- cial recognition to detect if the user is wearing a mask and re- minds the user via screen and audio to reinforce public safety regulations. Facial recognition can also be used for tracking time attendance and enabling automated entry systems. HandyCHECKPOINT uses HandyAV’s award-winning Blue River


digital service to gain real-time network information


about individuals entering premises, enabling organi- sations to take measures to keep their premises safe and secure.


The technology can


be rapidly deployed at entry points within stores, schools, workplaces, transport stations and other high-footfall envi- ronments to quickly identify whether individuals present an elevated temperature – and are at greater risk of viral illness. Priced at just £1275+VAT SRP. this could be considered to be a very reasonable option by building managers.


Built into the signage


AV manufacturer Aurora Multi- media has introduced exclusive new features for the TAURI series of infrared temperature tablets. The new features are available in the 10.1", 15.6", and 21.5" models. The firm- ware upgrades will be at no ad- ditional cost!


TAURI checks your tempera- ture within 1 second, and it now also does the following: a graphical interface with mes- saging and customized audio prompt capabilities; integrated ReAX control system (program- mable with web standard lan- guages or the free, drag-and- drop Core Studio software); Email/text notifications; gesture control allows for touch-free in- teraction (example: answering on-screen survey questions); and face mask detection. Digital signage capabilities, through the built-in web server or external media player. Data storage of information and ex- change of data with other secu- rity or medical systems can be provided via fully customisable interfaces on the local panel and for remote monitoring in a web browser. Integration is possible with virtually any con- trollable third-party system for full system integration, auto- mation, and access control. Giant iTab also has a solution where anti-Covid-19 measures are integrated into the digital signage. In today’s new nor- mal where hygiene is key, sa- nitiser kiosks are becoming an essential part of everyday life. “Combining an auto hand-sani- tiser with a versatile digital sig- nage display, our plug ‘n’ play solution ensures that you are making the right investment to protect your staff and custom- ers by preventing COVID-19 in the workplace. Our digital sig- nage display and content man- agement system (CMS) allows you to present all your brand, sales and marketing messages perfectly.”


Any more room on top?


All well and good. but what if regulation imposes a limit on how many people can occupy a space safely, whatever their temperature? New technolo- gy from Philips Professional


Display Solutions is said to be helping to reignite the food and beverage industry by prevent- ing overcrowding and encour- aging social distancing. Philips Professional Dis- play Solutions has announced a ground-breaking new An- droid-powered queue man- agement signage and camera solution, called PeopleCount. This is now helping the food, beverage and other service in- dustries to safely reopen their establishments, as COVID-19 lockdown measures are eased across Europe.


PeopleCount, from Philips PDS, was created and launched in April as an immediate re- sponse to the sudden changes and challenges being faced by businesses, as capacity and social distancing become key concerns and requirements. Following last month’s an- nouncement that a leading re- tailer in the Netherlands has installed PeopleCount, Philips Professional Display Solutions can confirm popular restaurant/ bar, Apteekkari, in Kuopio, Fin- land, has become the first in its industry to re-open using the PeopleCount solution – with immediate positive results. Apteekkari sought a dedicat- ed solution to help easily and accurately monitor capacity on its rooftop terrace, to ensure so- cial distancing is maintained at all times and to provide a sim- ple and clear way of communi- cating with customers – both during and post COVID-19. In partnership with Avek Es- itysratkaisut Oy, a local AV integration firm, two 32” Goo- gle-certified, Android-powered and wi-fi connected D-Line displays (32BDL4051D/00), together with a Bosch FLEX- IDOME IP Micro 3000i IH intelligent camera and the Philips Professional Display Solutions PeopleCount app were installed.


AV News July 2020 P15


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