Photos show creative ways people have filled empty seats under social distancing guidelines

• Coronavirus lockdowns and social distancing measures have left restaurants shuttered, sports stadiums empty, and businesses largely closed.
• But people have found creative ways to mimic human stand-ins.
• From cardboard fans at a German football stadium, to mannequins dining at a restaurant in Virginia, here's how people have paved the way for a new kind of "human" experience, with social distance.
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We all miss going to our favorite bustling restaurant, or experiencing the excitement of a live sports game or concert.

Public health orders to curb the spread of the coronavirus have largely made crowds a thing of the past. But that doesn't mean we can't get creative.

Restaurateurs and sports teams around the world have been filling the void of their missing customers and fans by using blow-up dolls, mannequins, and cardboard cutouts.

At the Borussia Monchengladbach soccer stadium in Germany, more than 4,500 cardboard cutout fans have been installed to celebrate the start of the Bundesliga soccer league on May 16.

An additional 12,000 cutouts are on the way, and fans can each pay $20 to have their face put on them. Proceeds from the purchases will go to local services, including COVID-19 relief.

A similar sight was found on the FC Dynamo Brest side of a soccer match in Belarus. In April, fans were able to purchase mannequins with cutout portraits of their faces, in order to donate money toward the pandemic, and show they were supporting their favorite team.

A South Korean baseball team also kicked off the season to an empty stadium filled with massive banners of fans donning protective masks, and a Taiwanese-based Chinese Professional Baseball League started its season with a stadium full of robot mannequins and cardboard cutouts of fans and members of the press.

Restaurants have also found creative ways to deal with social distancing guidelines and empty dining rooms.

The Inn at Little Washington, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Virginia, has placed mannequins around its dining room in order to keep people from getting too close to one another.

Patrick O'Connell, the chef at the restaurant, has been working with a local Virginia theater to make the mannequins, which are styled in 1940s clothing. Since the restaurant does not have outdoor seating, O'Connell is preparing the mannequins to space out the room once it opens to customers on May 15.

In Bangkok, Thailand, a restaurant is using adorable giant stuffed pandas to provide similar distancing measures at tables, and to brighten the experience of customers.

"The doll makes me feel less lonely eating by myself," one customer told the Bangkok Post.

And in South Carolina, a historic restaurant called The Open Hearth, purchased 10 giant blow-up dolls to distance costumers from one another, rather than simply taping off areas that can't be used.

In France, a live karaoke show equivalent to "Don't Forget the Lyrics!" has replaced a human audience with plastic mannequins and balloon-art people.