Welcome Back To The Office. Please Don’t Touch Anything.
It’s reopening week for some Massachusetts office buildings that have been closed for months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Occupancy is capped at 25% to promote physical distancing, and some companies are taking additional measures.
At the Cambridge Innovation Center, home to hundreds of Kendall Square startups, the main entrance now opens with a wave of the hand, thanks to sensors beside the doors.
One of founder Tim Rowe’s chief objectives is to reduce the need to touch common surfaces — things like door handles and elevator buttons — which explains the small, individually wrapped gadget that awaits each employee and visitor in the lobby.
It resembles a flip-top lighter. But instead of a flame inside, there’s a rubber tip for pressing buttons and tapping shared computer screens. And the cap holds a sponge that can be soaked in sanitizer.
Between uses, the tip gets a coating of sanitizer from the sponge. So, whenever someone touches a surface with the little gizmo, they’re “part of the [office] cleaning regimen, as a user,” Rowe explains.
Read the rest of this story at WBUR’s website.