Social distancing: at Magazzino Italian Art in New York it happens through radio waves

In Italy the museums reopened, doing their best to ensure to the audience the pleasure of walking in an exhibition or in a collection without risk of contagion. The most-known hygienic rules are: mask always on, one way of visit, hand sanitizing gel distributed all around and distance of one or two meters between a visitor and the other.

Speaking of social distancing, there are those who will try to go further, using new technologies. We are talking about Magazzino Italian Art, the non-profit museum in New York, since 2017 cornerstone of the promotion of Italian art in the United States, with particular focus on post-war art and Arte Povera. The reopening date hasn’t been announced yet, but is preparing to welcome visitors again. It will do so by giving to each of them an EGOpro Active Tags, a technology developed by the cooperation between Italian and American companies, respectively Advanced Microwave Engineering (AME) and Advanced Industrial Marketing (AIM).

Using the radio technology UWB (Ultra-Wideband) the device – which will be with each visitor throughout the duration of the exhibition – will measure the distance between people, vibrating and emitting a red LED light flashing when the allowed space limit between one and the other is exceeded. A measure that will allow the public to be aware of its movements discreetly, without interrupting the quiet, dutiful inside a museum. In addition, the Egopro Active Tags can also be set on pairs or groups visiting the museum together, without giving the alarm for pre-set devices. A big help for those who have not yet introjected the meaning of distance – either one meter or two – in real space. There are further advantages: the device does not keep track of the movements, it is easily sanitized and produces a much smaller amount of waves than the mobile phone.