A Comprehensive Survey of Enabling and Emerging Technologies for Social Distancing-Part I: Fundamentals and Enabling...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Computer Science
• Electrical Engineering

Background:

• Social distancing is crucial for mitigating viral disease transmission, like COVID-19.
• Minimizing physical contact reduces virus transmission within communities.
• Emerging technologies offer novel solutions for implementing and enforcing social distancing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To survey how wireless and networking technologies can enable, encourage, and enforce social distancing.
• To provide background on social distancing concepts, measurements, and models.
• To discuss practical social distancing scenarios and enabling wireless technologies.

Main Methods:

• Reviewing social distancing concepts, measurements, and models.
• Proposing practical social distancing scenarios.
• Discussing wireless technologies for symptom prediction, quarantine monitoring, and contact tracing.

Main Results:

• Wireless technologies are effective in supporting social distancing measures.
• Key applications include predicting symptoms, monitoring quarantined individuals, and enabling contact tracing.
• This Part I focuses on the foundational aspects and wireless technology enablers.

Conclusions:

• Wireless and networking technologies are vital for effective social distancing.
• These technologies can enhance public health strategies against viral outbreaks.
• Further exploration in Part II covers AI, computer vision, and implementation challenges.