# Singapore Officials Using ‘Robodogs’ To Enforce Social Distancing In Parks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494 "2020-05-09T20:54:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/1 "2020-05-09T20:54:22Z")
> [@](#): > > The remote-controlled, four-legged machine warns parkgoers, “For your own safety and for those around you, please stand at least one metre apart. Thank you.” > > ,… > > SINGAPORE, May 8 (Reuters) - Far from barking its orders, a robot dog enlisted by Singapore authorities to help curb coronavirus infections in the city-state politely asks joggers and cyclists to stay apart. > > The remote-controlled, four-legged machine built by Boston Dynamics was first deployed in a central park on Friday as part of a two-week trial that could see it join other robots policing Singapore’s green spaces during a nationwide lockdown. > > “Let’s keep Singapore healthy,” the yellow and black robodog named SPOT said in English as it roamed around. “For your own safety and for those around you, please stand at least one meter apart. Thank you,” it added, in a softly-spoken female voice. > > Despite the niceties, breaches of Singapore’s strict lockdown rules can result in hefty fines and even jail. > **[Singapore Officials Using 'Robodogs' To Enforce Social Distancing In Parks](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/robodog-singapore-parks_n_5eb5e161c5b69c4b317a6463)** > > The remote-controlled, four-legged machine warns parkgoers, “For your own safety and for those around you, please stand at least one metre apart. Thank you.” I hear Peter Weller’s voice saying, “Stay six feet apart, or there will be …Trouble.” Then the violator says “Fuck you, dog!” And gets hit with a Taser. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/2 "2020-05-09T21:39:35Z")
I must admit, that’s not what I thought a robo police dog would sound like. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/3 "2020-05-11T05:49:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Despite the niceties, breaches of Singapore’s strict lockdown rules can result in hefty fines and even jail. So, just like Chicago. Except no robot dogs. So far. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@cornflakes2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes2)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/4 "2020-05-11T06:16:07Z")
I’ll do you even better on how scary this is gonna get. They will track you all on your smartphones. A built in app will alert law enforcement if you’ve been within 6 feet of another person and automatically send you a fine to your bank account and withdraw the money without your consent because they can. They also use drones to track people and monitor them and give you warnings of social distancing in parks or use facial recognition technology to send you fines and tickets (in the US too). Oh, this isn’t even scratching the surface of what I could tell you is coming. But this is what you all wanted. You love your technologies and beg for more and give more and more of your civil liberties away for the sake of security. Life is meant to be a little risky. It will soon become unbearable to even live as a flawed human being. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/5 "2020-05-11T07:08:28Z")
Can’t we go with the premise that someone in the USA would pull out a handgun and shoot that creepy thing, as being the worst possible outcome? I’m not ready to worry about Big Brother. I’m still getting used to being on lockdown. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@cornflakes2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes2)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/6 "2020-05-11T07:18:18Z")
shooting a drone would get you in even more trouble. It won’t happen as much as you think it would. That would be like shooting at a cop car (not the person but just the vehicle passing by or following you). In China, I heard they already have a lot of facial recognition systems on the streets like cctv and if you jaywalk across the street, they’ll get your face, send you a fine automatically and withdraw it from your bank account without need for consent. Imagine living like that and for every thing you do out of line with their rules or policies, you get fines. You could end up with several fines totaling over hundreds of dollars just for going out to get a carton of milk. Oh and China is also cashless society now (moving to remove all cash)…because it’s fun to pay everything from your smartphone…oh sneaky, clever, and awful move! The credit cards failed to entice the mass populations from getting rid of cash, but the smartphones is the killer. Everyone loves and is addicted to it because it really is an extension of you now…so we are cybernetic organisms, and soon that smartphone, because you love it so much, will be inside us. No need to hold anything or carry anything around. And everyone must (mandatory by law) be registered and connected to the mainframe network so all can be tracked and monitored. If you are not, you will be considered a criminal, an outlaw, a renegade…there isn’t going to be a choice. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/7 "2020-05-11T14:09:37Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Can’t we go with the premise that someone in the USA would pull out a handgun and shoot that creepy thing, as being the worst possible outcome? In New York, the thing would be stripped for parts and up on blocks within 15 minutes.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/8 "2020-05-11T15:09:10Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In New York, the thing would be stripped for parts and up on blocks within 15 minutes.🙂 I think you misspelled “[Philadelphia](https://www.gq.com/story/americans-murder-friendly-canadian-hitchhiking-robot)” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/9 "2020-05-11T15:24:30Z")
Aw, damn, I was waiting to read that the robodogs enforced social distancing by humping your leg. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/10 "2020-05-11T16:18:12Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Can’t we go with the premise that someone in the USA would pull out a handgun and shoot that creepy thing, as being the worst possible outcome? In the Black Mirror episode “Metalhead”, the robot dogs shoot back. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/11 "2020-05-11T16:22:01Z")
> [@cornflakes2](#): > > shooting a drone would get you in even more trouble. It won’t happen as much as you think it would. That would be like shooting at a cop car (not the person but just the vehicle passing by or following you). > > In China, I heard they already have a lot of facial recognition systems on the streets like cctv and if you jaywalk across the street, they’ll get your face, send you a fine automatically and withdraw it from your bank account without need for consent. > > Imagine living like that and for every thing you do out of line with their rules or policies, you get fines. You could end up with several fines totaling over hundreds of dollars just for going out to get a carton of milk. > > Oh and China is also cashless society now (moving to remove all cash)…because it’s fun to pay everything from your smartphone…oh sneaky, clever, and awful move! > > The credit cards failed to entice the mass populations from getting rid of cash, but the smartphones is the killer. Everyone loves and is addicted to it because it really is an extension of you now…so we are cybernetic organisms, and soon that smartphone, because you love it so much, will be inside us. No need to hold anything or carry anything around. > > And everyone must (mandatory by law) be registered and connected to the mainframe network so all can be tracked and monitored. If you are not, you will be considered a criminal, an outlaw, a renegade…there isn’t going to be a choice. [And you will prowl the badlands with a hot chick and an indian, hunting bounties](https://youtube.com/watch?v=tf7Y_76fTIw). ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/12 "2020-05-11T16:26:20Z")
‘Resistance is Futile’ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/13 "2020-05-11T17:10:17Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > In the Black Mirror episode “Metalhead”, the robot dogs shoot back. Sounds like the 1950s Robert Sheckley story “Watchbird” (which would be about drones, were it written today) (The story was abysmally adapted – as almost all Sheckley stories have been – as an episode of _Masters of Science Fiction_.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/14 "2020-05-11T17:55:16Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > In the Black Mirror episode “Metalhead”, the robot dogs shoot back. [Those dogs were absolutely terrifying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM3GM299orc). And they were inspired by Boston Dynamics [BigDog.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZPRsrwumQ) They’ve gotten [much more agile](https://tvweb.com/black-mirror-mit-mini-cheetah-video/) recently. Unlike real dogs, [they have learned how to open doors.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXxrmussq4E) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/15 "2020-05-11T18:40:18Z")
**cornflakes2** , if you think ‘getting in trouble’ would stop people from shooting at a drone or a robot dog you’re not living where I live. In my America (south, full of rednecks and a shit load of guns) this\* would not last long. They shoot live people on the regular around here. I guess if a Bradley tank came through with a message to social.distance peeps might take notice. Then again, that might stir up a crowd just to take selfies with it. \*drones and/or robodogs. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/16 "2020-05-11T22:34:44Z")
Reason number 892 why I prefer Singapore to Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/17 "2020-05-12T00:11:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Those dogs were absolutely terrifying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM3GM299orc). And they were inspired by Boston Dynamics [BigDog.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZPRsrwumQ) They’ve gotten [much more agile](https://tvweb.com/black-mirror-mit-mini-cheetah-video/) recently. Unlike real dogs, [they have learned how to open doors.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXxrmussq4E) :eek: The “horse” version is disturbing too… [https://www.reddit.com/r/TIHI/comments/ghkn29/thanks\_i\_hate\_this\_horse/?utm\_medium=android\_app&utm\_source=share](https://www.reddit.com/r/TIHI/comments/ghkn29/thanks_i_hate_this_horse/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@cornflakes2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes2)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/18 "2020-05-12T01:46:06Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > **cornflakes2** , if you think ‘getting in trouble’ would stop people from shooting at a drone or a robot dog you’re not living where I live. > > In my America (south, full of rednecks and a shit load of guns) this\* would not last long. They shoot live people on the regular around here. > > I guess if a Bradley tank came through with a message to social.distance peeps might take notice. Then again, that might stir up a crowd just to take selfies with it. > > \*drones and/or robodogs. I’m all for power to the people and anti-big government for sure. But dang, it sounds like the wild west where you are from hehe. I hope they shoot the drones down. Drones are scary as fcuk. I love flying them as a hobby and getting get video for artistic projects…but to use them in warfare, to use them to kill people, track people, control people…ughh…I’d shoot them down if I could, too. But I haven’t even touched on what drones will be able to do. Guns will be useless against them. One example is think about how small they can make them. Literally the size of a house fly and a billion of them scattered in the skies of America all recording, tracking, communicating, coordinating, infiltrating, yes and still fining you, penalizing you, keeping you all in check. You’ll need a new kind of gun to nail em. Bullets just won’t do anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/19 "2020-05-12T13:21:18Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Aw, damn, I was waiting to read that the robodogs enforced social distancing by humping your leg. > ~VOW It was humping my laptop, now I got a bunch of smartphones and an arduino board to feed! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singapore-officials-using-robodogs-to-enforce-social-distancing-in-parks/853494/20 "2020-05-12T13:48:28Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > It was humping my laptop, now I got a bunch of smartphones and an arduino board to feed! [Anyone remember these flash drives](https://www.amazon.com/USB-Humping-White-Dalmation-Cube/dp/B000LA3F7O)?