I wonder if you’ve thought about why we are being advised to stay two meters (or six feet) away from other people to avoid Coronavirus transmission? That number used to be half the distance by the way, only changing fairly recently. To understand it, we have to go back to post-World War II England, and to a hospital not terribly far south of Stonehenge.

What we learned in studies like these was that airborne pathogens die quickly when they become an aerosol, and a safe distance was determined at about one meter (three feet). For years that was the guidance we were given, and then came along SARS which was spread far and wide not by vacationing hikers, but by air travel.

Fast forward to today and social-distancing guidance advises us to stay two meters away from other people.

Humans are pretty good at judging that distance – it’s about the height of a tall person, the length of a llama, and the widest puddle I’ll venture to jump across. But when it comes to helping kids visualize 2 meters, a few creative tools can make all the difference.

Visualize 2 Meters with Everyday Objects

Consider using posters or diagrams that illustrate 2 meters using everyday items. For instance, show them how it spans the length of a door, the width of a small car, or even the size of a large dog lying down. These visual aids can be incredibly useful in making the concept tangible.

Why Understanding Distance Matters

As children and young people return to school, understanding this distance is crucial for maintaining social distancing and minimizing the spread of Covid-19. By providing them with these visual references, they’ll have a clearer sense of how to keep a safe distance from others.

Combining these methods with engaging comparisons, like the ones mentioned, can help ensure children grasp the importance of maintaining this space in a way that resonates with both their curiosity and their daily experiences.

That number becomes critically important when moving beyond social-distancing to contact-tracing however.

Contact tracing is the complex process of backtracking in time to find out who an infected individual may have come into contact with and subsequently transmitted the virus to. If we can do this with a high degree of confidence, then we can accurately predict who is at risk and target limited testing resources. This kind of pinpoint screening is one of the keys to getting back to work.

Technology can track people while they are in high-risk situations and build up a historical record of where they have been. If you could do that for everyone in a factory, for example, if a single person became ill you could quickly go back and identify who should be tested.

Simple then: you track people, determine who came within two meters in the last couple of weeks and there’s your list. Of course, then you have to go back to the people THOSE people came into contact with, and then the third order contacts, then the fourth….  Such is the way of exponentially exploding contact tracing: it’s compound interest writ large.

With any exponentially growing system, the final result is very sensitive to the underlying data: in this case the confidence we have in our two-meter measurements. Imagine a location technology which made mistakes, one in which the position of a person might be measured incorrectly by as much as 50%. Now the two-meter circle looks more like three meters, and that circle has over twice the area, meaning it could encompass over twice the people.

Here is the crux of the problem in an exponentially growing system: if at every step you are mistakenly predicting twice the number of infections, then the answer quickly ramps up to “everyone is sick.” That kind of prediction is of no use at all when the goal is to intelligently allocate limited testing resources.

A location system which can be wrong by up to 50% might sound alarmist, but it is in fact fairly conservative when considering industrial environments. Very large facilities filled with metal machinery and equipment are the worst of all places for wireless tracking systems.  In these environments many technologies struggle to achieve accuracy better than three to five times their stated nominal-performance. It’s not unusual to see a system promising one-meter accuracy to regularly deliver results that are five meters or more in error.

At Ubisense we are receiving a constant flow of enquiries asking if we can help with this very problem, and before responding we considered carefully our real-world performance in industrial environments. In this we are more fortunate than others since we have over a decade of global deployments providing analysis data. That data proves that we have the right technology for the job, and we are working very hard to respond to people’s requests with a simple to install solution.

Here’s the bottom line: if we didn’t have a sensor technology designed from the physics-up for high-fidelity performance in industrial environments, if we didn’t have millions of hours of operational run-time under our belts, if we weren’t the leading choice for people-tracking in the exacting discipline of military training, we wouldn’t be offering the solution that we are.

And neither should anybody else.

How Can My Child Understand Physical Distancing?

Helping children grasp the concept of physical distancing can be challenging, especially when it involves maintaining a gap of two meters. Here’s how you can make it easier for them to understand:

• Visual Aids: Use colorful visual aids like posters or infographics. These can be a fun and engaging way for kids to visualize the appropriate distance they need to maintain from others. Consider making it a craft project where they can create their own versions with their favorite characters or themes.
• Use Familiar Measurements: Explain distances in terms familiar to your child. For example, “Two meters is about the length of a door or a sofa.” You can also measure out two meters with them using string or tape, helping them see the distance in real terms.
• Interactive Games: Turn physical distancing into a game. For example, use sidewalk chalk to create markings on the ground and play a “stand in place” game to understand space.
• Storytelling: Use stories or analogies. Telling a story about how germs spread and the role of distancing in keeping everyone safe can be particularly effective. Books or short videos that are designed for children can also be great tools.
• Role Play: Act out scenarios with your child. Set up situations where maintaining distance is essential, like being in a store, and guide them through it with role-playing activities.

By breaking down the concept into visual, interactive, and relatable components, physical distancing becomes easier for children to comprehend and remember.

Understanding Physical Distancing Display Posters

A physical distancing display poster is a visual aid designed to help children grasp the concept of maintaining a safe distance from others. These posters use relatable examples and engaging visuals to illustrate what a set distance, like 2 meters or 6 feet, looks like in real-world terms.

Real-Life Comparisons
To make distancing more comprehensible, these posters might ask questions like:

• Is there enough space for a bicycle between you and your friend?
• Can a lion fit in the gap?
• Would a row of ten footballs comfortably fit in this area?

Purpose and Benefits
The goal is to ensure children easily visualize and adhere to physical distancing guidelines, which is crucial for their safety. By figuring out the answer to these imaginative questions, kids learn whether they need to adjust their spacing to stay safely apart.

Adding visual fun and educational content not only engages young minds but also fosters a safe environment for everyone.