The 60 day stay-at-home restrictions here in the Amsterdam are starting to lift. That means primary schools are reopening, kids can resume sport club activities and their parents can start practicing social-distancing in public space. After 60 days of home confinement however, there is a noticeable discrepancy between the policy versus practice of social distance.
1.5m Kan Je Mama’s Life Saven
According to authorities, 1.5 meters can literally save your mothers life. Here in Amsterdam, we are constantly reminded by the many new signs, digital billboards and painted sidewalks that instruct us to keep a 1.5 meter distance from one-another. But what does that actually mean? As an urbanist, I love to scale and measure things, which is why I was curious to explore this topic of 1.5 meters as safe social space in an active urban living urban environment.
Meet NORM.
People all around the world are making more and more ingenious solutions to combat the corona virus and sharing them online. For instance, this ’Social Distance Thing’ is apart of the Creative Commons so any idiot like me can build one for free. I found these instructions online at Instructables.
I named my ‘Social Distance Thing’ NORM because Covid19 is the new NORM.
As we all transition from social isolation back to public space, we need a fun and provocative way to navigate the new normal. I built this crazy contraption using a computer fan, dental mirror, lego, and yes - A Laser pointer, simply to say, “stay out of my 1.5 meter safe zone”.
What is the most effective way of enforcing social distancing? How can citizens be motivated to cooperate with the tough ‘stay-at-home’ policy for many more days or weeks? In no-time, a big part of our Amsterdam population will develop indifference to the risks and their adherence to the ‘1.5 meter distancing guidelines’ will decrease.
NORM is helping me map healthy and safe spaces on the Marineterrein. The Marineterrein is an Inner-city testbed for a sustainable living environment. A perfect sandbox to explore how even lasers can help you and your fellow residents visualize safe social distances. What is 1.5 meters in a park? on a sidewalk or square? Up and down stairs? Over a foot bridge or even sitting at a picnic table? My 16 year old son Jacob filmed me exploring the many types of urban spaces to not only map out what 1.5 means on the Marineterrein, but also start playful and engaging conversations with the public in the process. Most of the people we ran into loved the concept and topic. Some even assumed I worked for Google. ???
Much credit goes to our local dutch hero Harm van Beek, from the Research and Design Director for The Incredible Machine in Rotterdam for designing, building and sharing this unique Do-It-Yourself tool. Harm wanted to provide the public something simple, so he created a demonstration video and detailed instructions to make your own “The Social Distance Thing”.
For the record, Harm is a real ‘Maker’ and lives in a real maker-space, so “finding” materials like a laser pointer, small mirrors, computer fans, electrical wire, USB battery pack, duct tape, some Legos and a PVC pipe may be a challenge for many of us wanna-be makers. I didn’t have a soldering gun to weld electrical wires to connect the USB battery pack to both the fan and laser pointer so I simplified it and used all black lego parts to make it extra stealthy.
I’m not weird, you’re weird!
One of the unexpected outcomes of the 1.5m Marineterrein mapping exercise was the underlying question: “does this laser-shield protect me from contracting corona from the public? Or do I have corona, and this laser-shield protects the public from me?” For those of you living in and around Amsterdam please feel free to come by the Marineterrein and meet NORM. You can find me on the 3rd floor of the XRBase Building 027E, Kattenburgerstraat 5, Amsterdam. Or contact me at tom@tapp.nl
If you don’t have these ingredients on-hand, this is a handy list for the items you’ll need*. For the record I am tech agnostic, and do not officially support any brands or companies listed below.
Lego Parts (if your kids wont share)
4x 99773 Black Technic, Liftarm Triangle Thin, Type II (99773)
2x 32278 / 64871 Black Technic, Liftarm 1 x 15 Thick (32278)
4x 32056 Black Technic, Liftarm 3 x 3 L- Shape Thin (32056)
10x 32062 Black Technic, Axle 2 Notched (32062)
4x 32523 Black Technic, Liftarm 1 x 3 Thick (32523)
2x 32526 Black Technic, Liftarm 3 x 5 L- Shape Thick (32526)
4x 6558 Technic Pin 3L with Friction Ridges blue (6558)
Any USB 5v Battery Charger
Any old USB cable you can cut in half. (You only need the black and red wires inside)
Duck tape
Electrical wire
Cardboard
Zip-Ties
PVC 1.5 meter long PVC electrical conduit pipe
*links above are based on online shops in the Netherlands