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Gulf Today Report

A store in Japan's Osaka has deployed a robot who is capable of requesting customers to maintain social distance and wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

As the newest staff member at a store in Osaka shop the robot has signed on the job of ensuring customers to maintain the SOPs (standard operating procedure) against coronavirus.

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The robot named Robovie, developed by Kyoto-based Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), guides customers around the sales floor at the official store of soccer team Cerezo Osaka.

The trial, which began on Wednesday at a merchandise store for Japanese professional soccer club Cerezo Osaka in the western Japan city's Suminoe Ward, is scheduled to run through Nov. 30 but may be extended.

It warns customers when it detects through a camera and 3D laser beam technology that they are not wearing masks or abiding by social distancing rules.

Robovie's deployment is a trial that started last week and will run at least through the end of the month. It will be extended according to the situation, ATR said.

With around 120,000 reported coronavirus cases and close to 2,000 deaths, Japan has weathered the pandemic better than many nations, and people are mostly compliant with requests to wear masks.