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As employers around the world figure out how best to return workers to the office, tech companies are hoping that gadgets and software could help the process.

The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns have left offices around the world empty. And while there’s been lots of talk about the benefits of flexible working, there are still some workers who want to experience life in the office again.

But to do that, companies need to make sure they have strict health and safety regimes in place. Tech firms big and small have been developing everything from wearable devices to thermal imaging cameras to help businesses equip their office spaces for the future.

Tharsus, a U.K.-based robotics group, is mostly known for designing robotics and automation systems for firms like online retailer Ocado and telecommunications firm BT. In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the firm developed wearables for workers to wear around their necks to help with distancing themselves from colleagues.

The hardware — which looks like a futuristic smart necklace — sends out alerts to wearers every time they come into close proximity with another worker. Tharsus is looking to roll the technology out in a number of workplace environments, including offices, warehouses and canteens.

The tech is currently being trialed at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, an independent research institute based in Coventry, England. The facility houses manufacturing titans such as Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Siemens and General Motors.

“Bump is like traffic lights, which improve safety and at the same time improve capacity,” Tharsus CEO Brian Palmer told CNBC. “Analysis of Bump traffic data enables the volume of people in the workplace to increase, safely.”

It’s somewhat evocative of contact-tracing apps, another tool that companies — and governments — have been considering as part of their reopening plans. These apps rely on Bluetooth or location data to notify users if they may have been exposed to the virus.

Consulting giant PwC, for instance, developed an app for corporate clients to track employees who come into close contact and alert human resources staff if they may be at risk of coming down with the virus. The app has been tested in the company’s Shanghai office.

However, contact-tracing apps have faced criticism from privacy advocates concerned they could be too invasive. Officials and experts have also said the apps deployed so far haven’t yet been a “game changer” in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

While different from contact tracing, Tharsus’ solution is similar in that it aims to measure proximity. Bump relies on radio frequencies to send out signals to users if they get too close to each other. As far as privacy is concerned, Palmer said the tech was compliant with EU privacy laws and that data wouldn’t be shared with third parties.

“We designed Bump with this in mind and to ensure wearers don’t need to sacrifice data privacy,” he said. “All data is available to an individual business and their team members alike. Everyone can see who collected data, when and why.”

“Other app-based solutions only notify users if social distancing fails ‘after the event’ i.e. after they have been exposed to risk,” he said. “Bump provides real-time protection from the risk in the first place.”

Meanwhile, thermal imaging cameras have also been suggested as a potential way of helping bring staff back to the office. The cameras use infrared technology to detect radiating heat from a person and then estimate their body temperature.

British telecommunications firm Vodafone is deploying heat detection cameras made by surveillance tech maker Digital Barriers. The cameras are currently in use at the training ground of English rugby club Wasps, however Vodafone said they will also be used in offices, typically by an entrance or reception area.

“The device uses both thermal and HD cameras to deliver reliable, real-time body temperature screening accurate to within +/- 0.3 degrees Celsius and can screen up to 100 people every minute,” said Anne Sheehan, director of Vodafone Business U.K.

Responding to concerns over whether the cameras could infringe workers’ privacy, Vodafone said its cameras are a “temperature screening solution only.”

“The data it gathers is only relevant at that particular point in time,” said Sheehan. “The device doesn’t include technologies such as facial recognition and it cannot be used as a tracking device.”

But like much tech being proposed to return life to some level of normality, health officials have cast doubt on the use of thermal cameras in trying to detect and contain virus cases. The World Health Organization for instance has said temperature screening alone “may not be very effective.”

And while some tech companies are figuring out ways of detecting symptoms and regulating exposure to the virus, others are seeking to eradicate it.

Take ultraviolet lights, which have previously been used to kill bacteria, for instance. Some firms, such as Dutch lighting maker Signify, are hoping the technology can be applied to the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

The World Health Organization has warned people not to use UV lights on their skin due to the dangerous levels of radiation that they emit. But Signify aims to use the lights to disinfect surfaces in offices and other settings like schools and restrooms.

And science may be on the company’s side. Signify tested its own UV lights with researchers at Boston University, who found that exposure of the virus to UV light helps eradicate it. Signify is now ramping up production of the lights.

One trend the pandemic has accelerated is the use of software to communicate and collaborate remotely. Platforms like Zoom, Slack and Microsoft Teams have seen a surge in demand with entire workforces forced to adapt to telecommuting. Cisco’s Webex video-conferencing app saw a record 324 million users attend virtual meetings in March.

“There’s been a seismic change in the last few months in terms of working,” Chintan Patel, Cisco’s chief technologist in the U.K., told CNBC. “It goes without saying that what’s taken place has been incredible.”

The question for these platforms is whether they can continue this momentum as shelter-in-place measures ease and businesses start to reopen. Executives said there would be a continued need for such services as businesses adopt a “hybrid” approach of keeping staff at home while some employees return to the office.

Patel said touchless technology such as voice-activated intelligent assistants could help with holding virtual meetings from the office. Cisco’s video technology is also capable of measuring how many people are in a meeting, he said, adding this was compliant with EU privacy laws.

Still, it could be some time before a majority of office workers are back in the office. Many large tech companies are now offering workers greater flexibility over their working situations due to Covid-19 — Twitter has gone so far as to let employees work from home “forever.”

According to a YouGov study commissioned by identity management software firm Okta, just 29% of European workers surveyed between April and May wanted to go back to the office full-time. That figure fell to as low as 24% in Britain.

Meanwhile, 55% of workers felt they were equipped with the necessary hardware for working at home, while 56% said they had the appropriate software. YouGov surveyed over 6,000 people across the U.K., Germany, France and the Netherlands.

“If you really have to bring everyone to a meeting together, something extraordinary will have to happen,” Julien Codorniou, vice president of Facebook’s Workplace app — a rival to Slack and Teams — told CNBC. “I hope the office will be a place for more meaningful interactions.”

Finally, there’s the issue of how workers will get to the office. It’s easy to see why many people in big cities like London and New York might be anxious about the idea of taking public transport, potentially being packed in like sardines on a busy bus or subway. And driving in such areas can be far from ideal.

Several start-ups are hoping to convince authorities and consumers that two-wheel electric vehicles like scooters and bikes might be able to solve this problem. In the U.K. that’s particularly relevant, since the government has recently made it legal to ride e-scooters on roads. A number of trials are getting underway across the country. 

New York City has also approved the private use of e-scooters and bikes, and will allow e-scooter operators to apply for permits in the city, with the exception of Manhattan.

It is hoped the devices will offer a safer and more environmentally-friendly alternative for people commuting to the office.

“This is about getting the public back to work moving again in a safe way,” Richard Corbett, the U.K. general manager at Swedish e-scooter firm Voi, told CNBC.

“Authorities are using the current opportunity as an opportunity for challenge,” said Per Brilioth, CEO of VNV Global, an investor in Voi.

“That’s been the ongoing trend, to reduce — not take away completely — but reduce the need for cars and fossil fuel for transportation into something that’s cleaner in every aspect.”

Leading a company through a crisis is no mean feat — and for some, it can be their undoing. But for those that get it right, it can be an opportunity to set the business apart from the pack. 

That was the case for Chinese technology giant Alibaba Group, executive vice chairman and director of Alibaba’s entrepreneur fund Joe Tsai said in a recent interview.

Now an e-commerce giant worth some $678 billion, Alibaba was about to launch Taobao, its online marketplace for consumers, in 2003 when crisis struck. China was hit hard by a then-novel coronavirus outbreak known at SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which forced businesses to shutter and people to shelter in their homes.

That might have been it for the nascent company. But instead, Tsai and his 17 co-founders, including Jack Ma, decided to pivot. They implemented what was then a novel — and clunky — work-from-home system to ensure the launch went ahead on time.

“We wanted to make sure that when customers emailed or called us, we could serve them,” said Tsai. “Obviously, the first thing you want to do is make sure your employees are safe and working in conditions where things continue to function. As long as that’s in place, they can continue to serve their customers.”

Just weeks later, Taobao was launched as planned on May 10, 2003. The self-imposed quarantine became a watershed moment for China’s economy, as domestic consumers turned to the internet to order goods online. 

Tsai said that steadfast commitment to the mission was instrumental to the company’s success — and remains so today: “Fast forward to today and our focus on the customer is still an absolute priority.” 

That offers an important lesson for start-ups struggling with today’s Covid-19 pandemic, the entrepreneur continued during his wide-ranging discussion with Tony Wong, co-founder and CEO of e-commerce platform, Shopline.

Specifically, business owners should focus on the core goal of their business. If that still remains, even amid the downturn, then it’s worth carrying on.

“As an entrepreneur, I don’t think you should chase ideas. I think you have to go back to why you founded the business in the first place,” said Tsai. “Look at what the mission was and the problem you were trying to solve. And if the same problems still exist and the same customers are still there, then it makes sense to continue your business.”

“But if you’re just chasing ideas, then you don’t have the passion. You’re chasing it because it’s a money-making opportunity and not because you really love pursuing your mission. Let your mission guide your direction.”

Just like for Alibaba, that may mean innovating and coming up with new ways to reach that goal amid current limitations.

“You can definitely look inward to change your bad hand,” said Tsai. “Let’s say you’re in the restaurant business and the restaurant has shut down — there’s nothing you can do about it. (But) I think a lot of companies now are thinking of alternatives.”

“Just because the restaurant’s shut down, customers don’t stop eating and the alternative is adapting to takeout. The adaptability of the business is very important. Teamwork and internal communication are key to adapting to a new normal,” he said.

— CNBC’s Tom Huddleston contributed to this report.

Don’t miss: Three lessons for entrepreneurs from inside Alibaba’s Taobao University

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Millions of Americans have altered their travel plans amid the pandemic, with some switching to road trips this summer and others postponing long-haul air and sea travel till next year or beyond.

But one demographic — the affluent vacationer — appears to be more optimistic, making plans and holding onto reservations made pre-coronavirus. Industry experts see this resilience among luxury travelers as an encouraging sign a rebound might be just around the corner. How the wealthy are traveling, however, is evolving, too.

“Affluent travelers tend to be a little more comfortable with the wait-and-see scenario,” said Misty Belles, managing director at Virtuoso, a global network of 1,100 travel agencies and more than 22,000 travel advisors specializing in luxury and experiential travel.

“Because they’re well-versed at travel and it’s such an ingrained part of their lifestyle, our clients are really more in that sit-and-wait camp — especially if there’s no financial penalty for them to do so.”

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Jon Grutzner, president of Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold— two high-end guided vacation brands owned by Cypress, California-based The Travel Corporation — said he’s heard Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch refer to luxury travel advisors as “the canary in the coal mine” regarding travel recovery. “We’re seeing that that really is the case,” he said. “Their clients are the first guests who are coming back and feeling more comfortable with travel.”

Belles said Virtuoso has polled affluent travelers and found that 39% were ready to travel within three months, and 66% were ready to immediately board an airplane.

For his part, Grutzner says Insight and Luxury Gold currently enjoy an 80% “save rate” on customer bookings.

That means 8 out of every 10 customers are either keeping their reservations as is, rebooking for a later date or taking a future travel credit — rather than canceling outright for a refund. (The two brands have dropped tour departures through November but do plan to run Christmas market  trips to Europe, said Grutzner.) “That’s a good sign for us and for travel, that travelers are feeling comfortable in continuing to keep those reservations,” he said.

While 2020 “was pretty much a wash” for Insight and Luxury Gold, bookings for 2021 are strong. “It definitely far outpaces what we’ve done in previous years,” Grutzner said. “People are coming back and we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Pent-up demand among luxury customers is leading them to book heavily for the first through third quarters of next year, and even into 2022, he added — despite a rise of about 12% in prices of late.

Meanwhile, certified travel counselor Anne Scully, president of McCabe World Travel in McLean, Virginia, said her agency booked a respectively healthy $1.6 million in trips in June. The agency normally does $60 million per year.

Those well-off vacationers staying in the U.S. are booking places with flat or dropping infection rates, said Belles. “Places that have low [Covid-19] numbers, lots of wide open space and and good testing facilities seem to be where people are gravitating,” she observed. “A couple of our hotels in Maine are almost completely 100% committed through the rest of the summer.”

Scully has been booking mountain resorts like the St. Regis in Aspen, Colorado, and Montage Deer Valley in Park City, Utah, for well-heeled families. “Ski resorts are extraordinary summer destinations,” she said. “You’ve got that beautiful fresh air out there, and you can social distance very easily at properties like that.” Luxury RV self-drives, some with butler service, are also selling, she added.

While affluent travelers did shift to more domestic bookings early in the pandemic, they’re now starting to reserve trips abroad — even though border restrictions between the U.S. and many popular destinations, including Canada, most of the European Union and even the Bahamas, are still in effect. Nonetheless, Grutzner said he saw a shift from domestic to abroad in bookings starting in early July.

Scully just rebooked a client who’d canceled a summer private charter to Europe on a Venice Simplon-Orient-Express rail journey across the Continent this October, book-ended with stays at the Belmond Hotel Cipriani in Venice and Claridge’s in London. “Now, fingers crossed that things will open up,” she said. “We did negotiate with our partners saying, ‘look, if they’re not allowed in as Americans, what kind of penalties will there be?’

“You’ve got to protect your clients,” she added. “Relationships matter in creating trips right now.”

Sea and river cruises are also selling at McCabe World Travel, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extending its No Sail Order for ships carrying at least 250 passengers in U.S. waters through Sept. 30. Scully thinks cruise lines might come out even stronger post-pandemic. “Remember, they were dealing with the Norwalk virus for years, and lived through it,” she said. “They literally have doctors and health facilities on board.”

Virtuoso agencies are reporting jumps of 30% in river cruises and 4% in general cruises for January, said Belles, adding that “cruisers are just incredibly loyal.”

Travelers feel comfortable taking such planning risks because cruise lines, hotels, guided vacation companies and other travel providers have in fact loosened restrictions and cancellation policies, according to Belles at Virtuoso. “And as long as those cancellation policies stay lax, and I think they will continue throughout 2020 to be that way, there’s no need cancel right now,” she said. 

For example, Insight and Luxury Gold, along with other The Travel Corporation companies, are reducing trip deposits to $99, allowing changes of dates and destinations across brands, and instituting a Peace of Mind promise to calm traveler nerves. They’re also fine-tuning product to meet pandemic-era needs, introducing wellness directors charged with ensuring hygiene on escorted trips and a Small Private Group Option version of standard tour departures.

“With groups of as small as 12, we can take our current departure dates and for a surcharge make them a small, private group option for them,” said Grutzner. “We’re seeing guests wanting the comfort of traveling with, first of all, like-minded people and then, second, having more of these intimate experiences that you get with a guided vacation versus doing it on your own.

“We are listening to our travel partners, specifically the travel advisors, whom we recommend our guests book through,” he added. “And they say the demand is is being able to travel with your friends and extended family.”

Indeed, in its polling, Virtuoso found 76% of affluent travelers would consider a so-called vacation pod to enable and/or ease travel faster. A “pod” can be  a group of healthy relatives or friends traveling together and sharing quarters to limit exposure to pathogens.

“There is a strong desire to be with others,” said Belles. “So traveling with another family, whether it’s relatives or a similar family who have been social distancing in the same way, allows for a more social vacation experience.”

Pods or no pods, affluent travelers are also snapping up charters on yachts and private jets, she added. “We’re seeing an uptick in exclusive use,” Belles said. “People are even taking over small boutique hotels.”

Villas and private homes, even more so than hotels, are also prime accommodations option, said Scully at McCabe. She herself couldn’t get the Spring Lake, New Jersey, home she and her sister like to stay in with their families because it was booked solid as of early summer. 

Belles says wealthier vacationers have been booking short stays at stand-alone properties, villas tied to resorts and larger hotel suites for working vacations with their families and then “extending and extending and extending” as pandemic lockdowns wax and wane.

“They’re planning to go for a week and then they realize there’s no need to rush back to their residence,” she said.

One of the world’s largest companies – Apple – has carried the tech sector higher this year.

The iPhone maker has rallied nearly 45% in 2020 and set another record high as recently as Friday, a day after a blowout earnings report.

But, Apple isn’t the only way to play strength in the sector, according to long-time tech investor Paul Meeks who manages the Wireless Fund.

“Probably my favorite ideas, not necessarily in the near term because I can’t predict the near term but over the next couple of years, are two semiconductor-related names,” Meeks told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Friday.

His first pick is Micron Technology, a chipmaker that has lagged a broad rally among the semiconductor stocks this year.

“I think they will double their stock price over the next two or three years, whereas some of the marquee tech stocks I think will continue to outperform but they can’t double from here,” said Meeks.

Micron is down 7% in 2020, while the SMH semiconductor ETF has gained 18%.

“Then the other one that I like is semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer ASM Lithography. Those two are probably my favorite ideas for tech over the next couple of years,” he said.

While those are his top ideas, he says any tech investor should at least be exposed to some of the market’s biggest companies including Apple, Facebook and Amazon.

“We’re in a tech world and everything else is just revolving around us in the periphery,” said Meeks. “Perhaps you don’t like those valuations, there’s some that I don’t like at any particular time. But, these all are stocks that are probably over time, if you’re a serious tech investor, must haves.”

Disclosure: WIREX holds Micron, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.

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