Socalart: A Sensor-Based Wearable Device for Enhance Social Distancing to Minimize the Spread of Covid-19

ABSTRACT

The use of social and physical distancing have proven to flatten and minimize the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that have ravaged the world since it was first discovered in Wuhan, China. However, it is challenging to enforce social distancing or ensure that individual maintains the recommended 6-feets (2-meters) by World Health Organization (WHO) during social gathering or interaction. Consequently, the use of technology-based approach, proximity detection of distance between individual coupled with active beep signal to provide warning of close contact can effectively minimize infection rate. The paper propose Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology-based method to compute proximity between Bluetooth enabled devices worn by individuals and check if the recommended 6-feet (2-meters) by healthcare practitioners is being maintained. Experimental results shows that at received signal strengths indicator (RSSI) of -72.9dBm and -64.7dBm for indoor and outdoor environments respectively, the proposed system was able to effectively detect people in close proximity and trigger alarm for need to maintain safe distance. The proposed system is essential for reducing the spread of COVID-19 especially in sub-Saharan Africa with weak health system, inadequate surveillance, and insufficient testing equipment.

INDEX TERMS Social distancing, Sensors, Covid-19, Wearable device, Coronavirus disease, Bluetooth Low energy