In a bid to keep all COVID-19 safety guidelines in place, a south Indian clothing store chain located in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli has deployed artificial intelligence (AI)-powered humanoid robots across their outlets to check the safety measures of visitors.
Named "Zafira", the female robot figure is blonde and dressed in a sari. As part of her duties, Zafira checks the temperature of customers visiting the stores and if they are wearing masks. The robot also dispenses sanitiser to customers while keeping track of the number of people entering the store at one time.
The aim is to keep the risks of spreading the coronavirus in check, now that some businesses across the country have sprung back into action.
Pictures of this special robot have made their way to Twitter in India. Have a look.
While some people are thrilled about this COVID-19-preventing robot, some are just worried that these kinds of instances could be the early stages of a future robot uprising.
Some people also pointed out that the "fair skin" of the robot is "offensive" because residents of the south Indian region are usually brown-skinned.