Contactless Design

COVID-19 has changes how we interact with public surfaces and we are now more mindful of the surfaces we touch. An elevator buttons can contain 40 times more bacteria than a public toilet seat, viruses live up to 24 hours on non-porous surfaces such as door handles, and 80% of sickness-causing germs is spread via hands. 

Hands-free Access 

Therefor hands free access particularly in high-traffic areas such as an apartment, community or office building’s front entrance, lifts, bathrooms, conference rooms, gyms, etc are most susceptible to germ collection. A way mitigate the risk of spreading infections is to create hands-free and contactless pathways through buildings, using technology such as voice activation, sensors, facial recognition, and smartphones. Ideally, people will be enter buildings through sensor doors, calling the lift via their smartphones and using facial recognition to enter access controlled areas. 

Motion Activated Lighting 

Motion activated lighting eliminates one major point of contact in workspaces and in homes, it could be one small, but impactful method of reducing the potential nor the spread of germs and diseases. Combined with its role in energy use reduction, this could make motion activated lighting a powerful technology. One of the most common ways in which energy is wasted is through a light accidentally left on, be it in a closed store overnight or in a residential home over a lengthy vacation. By eliminating this possibility, the technology could reduce energy costs by a significant margin. 

Contactless Office 

Another emerging concept is the contactless office – that some predict could become widespread among organisations who can afford it.  

Employees could eliminate the need to press communal buttons by using their smartphone to send a command to the elevator or staff coffee machine. Conference rooms could be fitted out with voice-activated or motion sensing technologies to control lighting, audio and visual equipment. Passing through doors or flushing the toilet would require a simple wave, while self-service in office kitchens could become a relic of the past, to be replaced with automation or a dedicated server. Therewith and employees can make it to their desk without the need to needlessly touch surfaces.  

The inclusion of these technologies will not only slow the spread of COVID-19, but all infectious diseases, including the common cold and flu and get us one step closer to healthier living.