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(English) TOMI Anti-Covid Technologies

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TOMI uses different technologies and functionalities to respond to the different needs that this pandemic has created, through essential collaboration with public health authorities in different countries, to make official information available. Thus, since the beginning of the pandemic, TOMI has been implementing several actions, continuing to invest in the development of more technologies.

Interactivity, by touch, is the most important feature of the TOMI devices. But, during the pandemic period, the decision was made to disable interactivity as a measure to prevent contagion.

On the TOMI screen, a specific message was displayed explaining why interactivity was disabled. When a citizen touched the screen, TOMI displayed an alert message asking them not to touch, explaining the reason (“To avoid contagion, interactivity is disabled.”).

    1. Remember recommendations to avoid contagion (for example, washing your hands, avoid touching your face, wearing a personal protective mask, etc.);
    2. Provide preventive measures for those returning from foreign countries and how to protect the surrounding people;
    3. Inform about quarantine measures and how to follow them.

The information to control a pandemic crisis is critical. TOMI plays an important role as an information hub, ensuring that everyone has access to authoritative content and preventive measures. During emergencies, TOMI plays a vital role in helping communication between cities and citizens, providing evidence-based information, and creating a positive experience for everyone.

    1. A daily report of the number of confirmed cases, deaths, and division by regions of the country;
    2. Sharing the most recent tweets from national healthcare organizations, allowing real-time updates to a dynamic ad.

In the context of a global pandemic, with a fast evolution, there is a large volume of data to be shared at all times, giving spaces for much-shared news to not be confirmed and have a false character. The dissemination of true and reliable news is always essential and TOMI plays this role by sharing data provided by national health entities, such as DGS. A dynamic advertisement was also created, displaying the latest tweets from SNS and DGS on TOMI.

Local authorities need a simple way to inform their residents about safety and follow recommendations. This alert provides municipalities with a way to communicate with their residents, sharing local content, such as the number of confirmed cases or a possible mandatory quarantine.

    1. If the person is passing alone, TOMI will display an alert informing that the person must remain at home;
    2. If two or more people are detected, an alert will be displayed advising that social detachment must be practiced;
    3. It is also possible to send an alert, by email, to the police forces or local authorities, informing them that there is a group of people, in a specific place, so that they can go there and take the necessary measures.

With the aggravation of  Covid-19, TOMI messages with an informative tone for communities have evolved to include reminders of social distance and advice to stay home. Using the human detection system, TOMI has created an innovative way to advise citizens to be safe, promoting social distance and self-isolation at home.

    1. For individuals who are detected alone, a suggestion message is displayed to stay at home;
    2. When a group of people is detected, a message is displayed advising the practice of social detachment.

With the “TOMI Alert” project, the computer vision module is used to detect humans on the street, and to trigger alert messages according to the number of individuals detected. This is an innovative way of recommending that people follow official measures, without the need for human contact, avoiding unnecessary risks.

Given that the country has implemented strong measures to keep people at home, pedestrian counting is a key metric to be provided to national authorities. In this way, it would be possible to understand the volume of pedestrians and how it compares at each location on a given day and time. It is also essential to compare the average number of people who pass through different days and to understand the impact of various factors (such as location – street or subway, weather conditions, and current political measures).

TOMI joined the movement started by Italian children “Everything will be okay”, sharing messages of hope on their balconies and windows, illustrated by a rainbow and a security slogan: “Andrà tutto bene” (Everything will be okay). Thus, TOMI alternates between important information about the virus, with a message of hope that helps to promote calm among citizens, maintaining faith.

Due to the pandemic, and the consequent restrictions imposed, citizens began to avoid the use of public transports, and limitations on access to public services were imposed. TOMI showed videos with messages promoting the safe use of public transports, taking into account passenger restrictions, as well as new measures to access public services.

TOMI launched a new way of interacting with the equipment, via smartphone. TOMI users only need to scan the QR Code, displayed on TOMI, with their device and can explore all contents (news, events, points of interest, public services, transports, …) or even take a photo.

The remote control system does not require an application, making it possible to access all the information and functions that TOMI provides, including searching for content and category lists, obtaining directions, taking photos/GIFs, and sending them via email. For each command received by TOMI, it receives feedback in audio format, in the language chosen by the users.

TOMI provided a universal access platform that allows merchants and local businesses to manage their presence in TOMI networks, completely free of charge. TOMI My Business allows each entity, present in one of TOMI locations, to promote its business on TOMI, in the Search module.

In the phase of reopening commerce, TOMI continues to play an active role in promoting the recovery of the economy, helping to promote spaces that are open to the public and that respect safety standards and guidelines.

With the implementation of the mandatory use of an individual protective mask, TOMI has developed a technology that allows the detection of citizens wearing, or not wearing, the mask.

Through this new feature, TOMI is able to recognize a negative and positive pattern of areas where people are wearing, or not, the individual protection mask.

This new functionality allows displaying messages in TOMI, to alert the usage of a mask, based on legal guidelines.

Through this new feature of TOMI, when detecting the lack of individual protection masks, an alert is sent, via email, to the police forces or local authorities, with the identification of the place and the number of people. After receiving the alert, public authorities can create measures to increase caution in that area or region, if they so desire.

The pandemic brought new hygiene measures and in this way, Turismo de Portugal developed the Clean&Safe seal to identify which establishments comply with the new standards and promote people to use them. Thus, TOMI and Turismo de Portugal established a protocol that provides a category, in the Search Module, only with establishments that have already been accredited with this seal.