It’s not completely clear how easily the coronavirus spreads on surfaces—the CDC says that it’s possible to become infected by touching a virus-covered surface and then touching your face, even though it’s supposedly not the primary way the virus spreads. Still, the virus can last on some surfaces for up to 12 hours, and as businesses reopen, it’s hard for anyone entering a public space to not be a complete germaphobe when it comes to touching public surfaces. New technology that doesn’t require you to touch anything could help.
When it comes to deploying zero-touch technology, it seems like restaurants are the most important places to consider. It makes you think about how germs get transferred to surfaces then to others who end up touching those same surfaces. The whole “wash your hands before returning to work” sign in the bathroom is like a nuclear radiation sign now…..you just can’t miss it, and it gets you thinking about all the contaminated surfaces throughout the restaurant.
When I go out to eat, I hope to have a great overall experience. I want the service to be excellent, the food to be awesome and everything in the restaurant to be super clean. Additionally, I don’t really want to touch anything that someone else has handled, especially right before I am about to eat and drink — lots of hands to face action going on, and I don’t need to be transferring invisible and unknown microbes into my body. I am sure you feel the same way.