When we commune with nature, we can become deeply immersed in its rich splendor. Similarly, when we are with friends or precious loved ones, we can become lost in the charms of those around us. During these increasingly rare moments, we have a tendency to lose a sense of time and place. What a beautiful feeling.
However, during the time of coronavirus, standing too close to others in the wrong space can make normal human behavior become deeply problematic.
To help us, Google has recently released Sodar (Sodar with Google, 2020). It is a new web app that allows users to visualize social distancing courtesy of the beauty of augmented reality (a.k.a. AR) (Parsons, 2020). It even follows the CDC suggested 6-feet-distance guidelines (Heater, 2020). Thanks CDC! Thanks Google!!
Check out Experiment With Google’s original tweet announcing Sodar:
Figure #1 – Sodar? It’s like “Sonar”, but with a “d” (Experiment, 2020)
To use Sodar, you just need to check Google’s site (Moon, 2020; Sodar with Google, 2020). Basically, this new tech is a browser-based app (on Google Chrome, what else were you thinking?) that uses your camera’s phone to place a digital circle on the ground around you (Haselton, 2020).
To be fair to Google, Sodar has been released early from its experimental division to help with the pandemic (Agarwal, 2020; Experiments with Google, 2020). As such, it came out sooner than it could have otherwise. Also, it only applies to Android phones (Haselton, 2020). Sorry iPhone owners!
Users have reported that Sodar helps them understand the perspective of how far in fact 6-feet distance is (Schoon, 2020).
For a look at Sodar’s interface as well as how social distancing occurs on your phone, check out the images below courtesy of The Verge (Vincent, 2020).
Figure #2 – Look ma, I’m keeping 6-feet distance! (Vincent, 2020)
However, despite its affordances, the ethical implications are legion.
In short, who keeps your phone’s camera data as you move about? Is it being recorded by others? Is it being used to map out more of our physical environment for potentially an even more detailed version of Street View? Who is it shared with? And how long can they keep it for?
And combining all of the above, what are the implications for law enforcement? In short, if the police find that you have been too close with other people outside for too long, what are the possible impacts? Could you be punished for violating recommended CDC, state, or federal social distancing guidelines?
Like most portable technology, as roll out begins, so do the seemingly endless ethical issues…
P.S. To see more of how Sodar works, please see this video (Metro, 2020).
References:
Agarwal, S. (2020, May 28). Google Sodar lets you visualize social distancing guidelines in AR. Digital Trends. Retrieved from https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-sodar-social-distancing-augmented-reality/
Experiments with Google (2020, May 29). Experiments with Google homepage. Experiments with Google. Retrieved from https://experiments.withgoogle.com/
Haselton, T. (2020, May 29). Google has a new Android tool that helps you stay 6 feet away from other people — here’s how to use it. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/29/google-sodar-uses-ar-on-android-phones-to-help-social-distance.html
Heater, B. (2020, May 29). Google’s latest experiment encourages social distancing through AR. Tech Crunch. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/29/googles-latest-experiment-encourages-social-distancing-through-ar/
Metro UK. (n.d.). Video: Google AR tool will visualise social distancing for you. MetroUK. Retrieved from https://metro.co.uk/video/google-ar-tool-visualise-social-distancing-you-2181444/?ito=vjs-link
Moon, M. (2020, May 28). Google’s ‘Sodar’ is an AR tool for social distancing. Engadget. Retrieved from https://www.engadget.com/googles-sodar-social-distancing-035839116.html
Schoon, B. (2020, May 28). Google’s ‘Sodar’ AR tool uses your camera to help enforce social distancing. 9to5Google. Retrieved from https://9to5google.com/2020/05/28/google-sodar-social-distancing-tool/
Sodar with Google (2020, May 29). Sodar with Google. Sodar with Google. Retrieved from https://sodar.withgoogle.com/
Vincent, J. (2020, May 29). Google’s AR tool helps you measure two meters to maintain proper social distancing. The Verge. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/21274383/google-social-distancing-ar-tool-two-meters-six-feet-sodar-measure
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