IIT Ropar student made an App Corona Sampark-o-Meter; helpful when contacting positive case
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
Here, we present a user-centric app, Corona Sampark-o-Meter, with an aim to help people estimate the risk of coming into contact with any coronavirus positive/highly suspected cases in the last 14 days. This app, first of its kind, to the best of our knowledge, can offer much needed retrospectively analysis and many useful features including location visualization on maps, places of maximum infection possibility with timings and other details, so one can re-verify and accordingly consider the risk assessment score. This app can help users to take precautions timely and those rated at high risk can self-isolate and timely consult a doctor for their own protection and safety of their friends and family members. For initial day’s retrospective analysis, one can import one’s location history data obtained from Google Takeout. The App would facilitate the users to estimate Corona Sampark Risk rating for others as well (For example, a doctor can estimate this risk rating for his/her patients based on their consent). Estimating the risk retrospectively and timely is very crucial as the carriers of this deadly virus end up transmitting it to their contacts inadvertently as the virus COVID-19 is known to spread before showing symptoms. Also, the existing approaches put the onus of responsibility of contact tracing and alerting/isolating the potential suspects on Government only, and are subjected to delays because of which, in most cases, the suspect has further spread the virus to many more. This App, if implemented successfully, can timely alert and more efficiently control the spread.
The risk assessment is performed based on one’s proximity to infected patients and duration of contact period, after one connects to the centralized server, where we assume and hope that infected patients’ location history data is provided and uploaded by concerned authorities. The location history data of users is stored locally and only sent to the centralized server when one initiates the request to estimate the risk rating, anonymously and securely. The App also provides web links to India and World stats of corona cases, list of COVID-19 testing labs and quick link to donate online in the PM CARES fund.
Further, to better facilitate the authorized entities to prepare location history data of infected patients, we have also developed a supporting web App tool where one can easily mark the locations on map and mention the corresponding timings and duration. This also helps them to better visualize the patients location history on map which can further immensely help in contact tracing efforts of the Government. We wish to share the concept and the prototype developed with the Government for them to consider this and further augment their initiatives in the current pandemic situation. This is our humble contribution in our collective fight against the virus.
The app prototype is developed by Sahil Verma, a 2nd year UG student at IIT Ropar, under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Puneet Goyal, faculty in CSE and CBME here.
April,8,2020
