Hollywood Is Planning To Use Robots To Battle Coronavirus On Set

Hollywood Is Planning To Use Robots To Battle Coronavirus On Set

By Hoai-Tran Bui/May 21, 2020 2:00 pm EST

The entertainment industry is likely going to be forever changed after the pandemic. Not just in delays, or the financial losses it is sure to take, but in the way it operates — film and TV sets will still have to work cautiously and establish new guidelines to ensure the health of their crew and cast. One way that they will achieve that: virus-killing robots.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the industry is looking into new ways to meet sanitation standards on their sets. The latest method is one that will likely to be a red flag for anyone who has seen a sci-fi action flick, but is apparently a pretty foolproof way to combat coronavirus. Hollywood is looking into purchasing the"Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot," a lab-certified disinfecting robot made by San Antonio-based Xenex Disinfection Services, on film and TV sets as they resume production. The robot, which is already used in hospitals around the globe, uses pulses of ultraviolet (UV) light to kill SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. According to testing by the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, the robot was able to deactivate 99.99 percent of the novel coronavirus in two minutes.

The robots don’t require any warm-up or cool-down periods, and can disinfect dozens of rooms each day. They are able to move on their own by following a path in the room they’re in, but since that feature may be an issue with labor unions, such as IATSE, former filmmaker Justin Golding says they’re prepared to work with crewmembers to control them.

As long as they make sure the robots don’t get a mind of their own.