April 17 2020
DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates Interior Ministry's "Happiness and Positivity Council" announced late Wednesday that police forces had adopted a new high-tech smart helmet to help in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
The interior minister, Lt. Gen. Saif bin Zayed, said the bulbous helmet with a large mirrored visor will be used by specialized police teams. It has night vision and facial recognition cameras and can process car license plates, but its main use now will be to monitor people who might have the virus from a safe distance.
The helmets can “accurately and quickly read the temperature of people in different climatic conditions and outdoors, as well as in an unusual environment, utilising thermal radiation based on smart technology while generating sound alerts and warnings according to a person’s condition,” the state news agency reported.
The UAE, a wealthy Persian Gulf state that is a top tourist destination and an immense market for migrant labor, created a cabinet position responsible for happiness in 2016 and has made the promotion of happiness a government priority. Police stations now contain “happiness centers.”
The Middle East is already wracked by war. Now it must confront the coronavirus, too.
The novel coronavirus has had a heavy impact on the country — especially Dubai, a city known for its millions of tourists, hundreds of restaurants and many beaches. All restaurants have been closed except for takeout, and many top hotels have been converted to quarantine centers.
The UAE’s outbreak has been worsening, with the number of cases doubling three times just in the last two weeks, reaching 5,365. But there have been just 33 reported deaths, a tally attributed to the general youth of the population, extensive testing and good health infrastructure.
The UAE has already incorporated technology in its battle to contain the virus, using phone apps to enforce quarantine, speed cameras to monitor cars moving around without permission, and an online permit system to limit those seeking to buy food.
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While the rest of the country is under just a nighttime curfew, Dubai has put its residents on 24-hour lockdown and required them to get permits to leave their homes. The permits are valid for movement once every three days.
Dubai’s traditional trading quarter and home of its famed spice and gold markets were sealed off from the rest of the city on March 30, suggesting that the outbreak was focused in the crowded quarter packed with migrants from South Asia and Iran.
While happiness remains one of the stated priorities of police, they have also been highly visible in the past few weeks handing out fines of hundreds of dollars to those leaving home without a permit or driving without a face mask. Walking pets and exercising outdoors have also been banned.
A video released by Dubai police on Tuesday and set to dramatic piano music shows an officer using the new helmet, interspersed with scenes of what appears to be heat-sensing imaging of people at a bus station.
The officer scans the often worried-looking bystanders, and their body temperatures appear in the helmet’s heads-up display.
“The Ministry of Interior is keen to use the best modern technologies, adopt the latest innovation and utilise the latest products to achieve its strategy and strengthen the preventive measures taken by the UAE to reduce the spread of coronavirus,” the state news agency said in its report on the new helmet.
The UAE has also announced the rollout of a new “Do Not Worry” campaign on social media featuring English and Arabic podcasts to cheer people up during the outbreak, according to a spokesman from the National Program for Happiness and Quality of Life.
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