Chinese startup Rokid has found a unique and somewhat terrifying market foothold for its AI and augmented-reality tech amid the coronavirus pandemic: smart glasses that clock the temperature of those around you.
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The Hangzhou-based company has already sold roughly 1,000 pairs to governments, businesses, and schools, according to a Reuters report. While its products are typically tailored to manufacturing and video game markets, Rokid recently pivoted to creating a better way to streamline screening for covid-19 symptoms in response to the outbreak. In about two weeks, the company developed what it’s calling its T1 glasses, a device that can “see” people’s temperatures up to 3 meters (roughly 10 feet) away.
Here’s how it works: The glasses come equipped with an infrared sensor that measures nearby temperatures with the help of a camera, and communicates that information in real-time to the display. It carries a Qualcomm CPU, 12-megapixel camera, Rokid’s U.S. Director Liang Guan told TechCrunch last month, and can also deploy augmented reality features to record photos and videos hands-free.
Given the prevalence of fixed thermometer checkpoints in industrial parks and public spaces across China amid the outbreak, Rokid Vice President Xiang Wenjie told Reuters that demand for its T1 glasses has been ramping up rapidly.