Published: Wednesday October 7, 2009 MYT 3:19:00 PM
Updated: Wednesday October 7, 2009 MYT 3:20:18 PM

A heat sensor to guard workers against flu

YOKOHAMA, Japan: Feverish Nissan workers are supposed to stay home, but just to make sure, the Japanese automaker has set up several body temperature measuring machines at the entrance to its headquarters.

The devices, called "Thermo pix Ai," use infrared sensor technology developed by Nissan Motor Co. for cars to gauge heat in engine rooms and rear-window defoggers, executive Hitoshi Kawaguchi said Wednesday.

All Nissan workers have to do is bring their face close to the machine, within 15 centimeters (6 inches), and hold it there for three seconds.

If you're healthy, the machine's green light goes on.

If your body is hotter than 38 degrees Centigrade (100.4 Fahrenheit), indicating you may be sick, possibly with a contagious flu, the red light goes on, sounding an alarm.

Some 3,000 workers commute daily to Nissan headquarters in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo.

The machines may be set up in other Nissan facilities, although a recent test-run found nobody with a fever so far.

"It's not that we don't trust our employees. But some people push themselves even if they aren't feeling well. The virus could spread to other workers," Kawaguchi told reporters.

The machine, about the size of a thick paperback book, was developed with Japanese machinery maker Chino Corp., and costs about 300,000 yen ($3,000).

Similar detectors commonly used in airports cost about 30 times that, according to Nissan.

About 300 of the machines are being sold a month, since they went on sale last month.

That number could grow because of their potential appeal for use in other crowded facilities such as schools and hospitals, Kawaguchi said.

The machine is part of Nissan's ongoing effort to generate revenue from licensing and other intellectual copyright businesses, including challenging infringements, such as imitation products in China, as well as contributing Nissan model images for video games and toys.

Nissan, allied with Renault SA of France, also makes Infiniti luxury cars, the Z sportscar and March compact. - AP

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