Social distancing beeper will go off if you’re within 6 feet of someone

By Charlotte Edwards, The Sun

May 20, 2020 | 2:53pm

Pathfindr created a beeper that can be worn by workers to alert them to social distancing boundaries. pathfindr.io

A social distancing gadget that beeps whenever you’re not keeping six feet from someone could help people return to work.

The beeper has been invented by Pathfindr and aims to helps companies keep their workers safe.

In the UK and the US, two meters (six feet) apart is the recommended distance to stand in order to try and not spread Covid-19.

Pathfindr, based in Norfolk in the UK, usually provides internet-based technical solutions for companies.

However, since the coronavirus pandemic broke out the company has received thousands of concerns about keeping workers safe in the office.

This is why Pathfindr has now entirely switched its production to focus on beepers.

The company’s chief technical officer, Ben Sturgess, told Sky News: “It’s very simple to use. You wear it round your neck, on a belt or in your pocket and it pings out a signal constantly at a rate of about two per second.

“If there are any other devices nearby, it sends the message back, calculating how far that other person is away and if you’re within two meters it emits an audible beep.”

The company tried to harness Bluetooth technology at first but realized this was bouncing off objects and being blocked by people’s bodies.

Sturgess added: “We are using technology called ultra-wideband which is a much higher frequency.

“The device measures how long a radio wave takes to travel at the speed of light from one device to another and back again.”

Pathfindr managed to create a useable device in less than four weeks.

Hundreds of units per week are already being sold but international demand is surging.

The company is expecting many thousands of orders per week by next month.