Can Radar Remote Life Sensing Technology Help Combat COVID-19?

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is now a global pandemic disease. This outbreak has affected every aspect of life from work, leisure, and interaction with technology. Governments around the world have issued orders for travel bans, social distancing, and lockdown to control the spread of the virus and prevent strain on hospitals. This paper explores potential applications for radar-based non-contact remote respiration sensing technology that may help to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and outlines potential advantages that may also help to reduce the spread of the virus. Based on the state of the art engineering technologies, several emerging applications related to COVID-19 monitoring/or protection will be discussed with their technical implications. These applications include remote breathing rate monitoring, continuous identity authentication, occupancy detection, and hand gesture recognition. The paper also highlights future research directions that must be explored further to bring this innovative non-contact sensor technology into real-world implementation.