Singapore is trying a new way to get its residents to stay away from each other.

On Friday, the government announced it would start deploying Spot, Boston Dynamics' famous yellow and black canine robot, at one local park.

he four-legged robot "dog" will patrol the area starting this weekend and broadcast a pre-recorded message to visitors to remind them of the importance of social distancing, authorities said.

The device will also be equipped with cameras that will scan the surroundings and help officials estimate the number of people gathering in parks, they said.

"These cameras will not be able to track and/or recognize specific individuals, and no personal data will be collected," the government said in a statement.

The new measure is an experiment to improve enforcement of social distancing throughout Singapore as it contends with an alarming recent spike in cases.

The government says it's also using Spot in another capacity — at a local isolation facility where the robot helps bring medicine to patients.

(c) CNN

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