As the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, China was one of the top countries to deploy robotic technology to combat the coronavirus. As the fifth-largest economy, India is also looking to mimic that strategy in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“Stepping in where humans should not, robots are being used for jobs such as sanitizing hospitals and delivering food and medicines in many parts of the world and perhaps soon in India where experiments are underway to increase their role in combating COVID-19,” an Economic Times article noted. “As health workers, researchers and governments struggle to contain the spread of the pandemic that has infected more than 7,00,000 people globally and claimed more than 30,000 lives, robots are also being deployed for administering treatment and providing support to quarantined patients.”
As mentioned, robots are already proving to be useful workaround tools in this new world of social distancing. While robotic technology is doing as much as possible now, this is a time researchers can use to learn how to deal with pandemics in the future.
Robotics technology can advance by providing a medium of communication via avatars and controls at large, convention-style gatherings.
“COVID-19 may become the tipping point of how future organizations operate,” researchers wrote in an editorial published by the journal Science Robotics. “Rather than canceling large international exhibitions and conferences, new forms of gathering — virtual rather than in-person attendance — may increase. Virtual attendees may become accustomed to remote engagement via a variety of local robotic avatars and controls.”
A Leveraged ETF Play in Robotics
With the use of robots continually advancing, it would serve traders best to capitalize on this move to robotics with ETFs like the Robotics & AI Bull 3X ETF (NYSEArca: UBOT). Traders looking to capitalize on the move to robotics can use UBOT as a tool. UBOT seeks daily investment results equal to 300 percent of the daily performance of the Indxx Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index, which is designed to provide exposure to exchange-listed companies in developed markets that are expected to benefit from the adoption and utilization of robotics and/or artificial intelligence.
Key characteristics of UBOT:
- The Indxx Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index (IBOTZNT) is designed to provide exposure to exchange-listed companies in developed markets that are expected to benefit from the adoption and utilization of robotics and/or artificial intelligence, including companies involved in developing industrial robots and production systems, automated inventory management, unmanned vehicles, voice/image/text recognition, and medical robots or robotic instruments, as determined by the index provider, Indxx.
- Companies must have a minimum market capitalization of $100million and a minimum average daily turnover for the last 6 months greater than, or equal to, $2 million in order to be eligible for inclusion in the Index.
A Relative Play in Emerging Markets
Will the introduction of more robotics in emerging markets (EM) gives it an advantage over developing markets? The Direxion MSCI Emerging Over Developed Markets ETF (NYSEArca: RWED) offers investors the ability to benefit not only from emerging markets potentially performing well but from emerging markets outperforming developed markets.
RWED seeks investment results that track the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI – EAFE IMI 150/50 Return Spread Index. The Index measures the performance of a portfolio that has 150 percent long exposure to the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index and 50 percent short exposure to the MSCI EAFE IMI Index.
On a monthly basis, the Index will rebalance such that the weight of the Long Component is equal to 150% and the weight of the Short Component is equal to 50% of the Index value. In tracking the Index, the Fund seeks to provide a vehicle for investors looking to efficiently express an emerging over developed investment view by overweighting exposure to the Long Component and shorting exposure to the Short Component.
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