Nearshore Americas
Mexican robot

Mexican Startup Develops a Robot For Identifying COVID-19 Patients From a Distance

Mexican technology startup Roomie IT has developed a robot that can identify people infected with coronavirus from long distance.

Known as RoomieBot, the robot checks temperature as well as oxygen saturation level in a human body, according to the Mexican news portal Xataka.

The robot that stands 1.60 meters tall is equipped with AI technology used in Amazon’s virtual assistant and a processor developed by US chipmaker Intel. It can interact by voice and take a person’s temperature through an infrared thermometer.

The company officials say the robot can be installed in public places, where people gather in crowds, such as shopping malls and railway terminals.

Aldo Luévano, CEO of the company, says he can customize the robot to the need of their clients and also offer co-investment opportunities.

“Our goal is not to diagnose. That is a doctor’s job, we don’t want to go into their terrain. All that robot does is that it identifies COVID-19 symptoms in a person without touching them,” Luévano told the news portal.

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In the past two-and-half-months, the company has sold five units. The reason why the company failed to sell more units is the fact that the robot costs 1 million Mexican pesos (US$44,325), say analysts.

Though expensive, the robot is worth a purchase for countries where doctors are scared of diagnosing patients for the fear of contracting the virus.

Narayan Ammachchi

News Editor for Nearshore Americas, Narayan Ammachchi is a career journalist with a decade of experience in politics and international business. He works out of his base in the Indian Silicon City of Bangalore.

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