The Halo bracelet was originally released in late 2018 by Vancouver startup Proxxi.
It was originally marketed to mechanics and electricians, and would buzz a warning when the wearer strayed within two metres of a high voltage source.
When the pandemic broke out, the fast-thinking Canadians retooled their product as a social-distancing bracelet, launched May 15 for US$100 ($146) a piece.
The Halo will deliver a haptic buzz to your wrist, and flash a warning light, if you come within 2m of a low-voltage human.
One Halo bracelet can wirelessly communicate with another via low-power Bluetooth, and any close contact and its duration are recorded by an app - so if all staff on a site are wearing a Halo, it also becomes a tracing tool.
The bracelets have long battery life and don't require a cellular network - though there is an associated smartphone app and web dashboard, which are included in the price, that can display logs of which Halo users were in each other's close proximity, and where and for how long.
There are some smartphone-based Covid-tracing tools that use Bluetooth, but they've been hampered by sparse uptake, the fact different phones have varying degrees of Bluetooth range and accuracy, and by the wireless technology being turned off by the user - or shutdown by their handset as it goes into power-saving mode when the battery is low.
Mark Singh - a former logistics manager for Douglas Pharmaceuticals and Foodstuffs - now has his own company, IndusHaze, which is bringing the Halo into NZ.
Bulk supply is expected later this month, but Singh already has Ports of Auckland and Ryman lined up to run pilots involving 10 units each.
IndusHaze CEO Mark Singh wearing a Proxxi Halo - which buzzes if you come within 2m of another wearer - and displaying is movement tracing app. Photo / Greg Bowker
Singh hooked up with Proxxi in the thick of level 4.
He concedes it's a very different threat landscape in New Zealand now (a couple of on-the-lam Brits notwithstanding).
"But we have seen scenarios of a second-wave or relapse happening," Singh says.
The Halo could still suit "organisations who are risk-averse and still want a high-level of visibility around contact-tracing".
Singh says he's also fielded interest from around Asia-Pacific, and sees potential for supplying companies in hotspots around the region.
