App to track crowds
THE Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) community now has a monitoring tool to control and prevent the spread of Covid-19 on campus.
The ‘hi-hive’ mobile app by Silverlake Lifestyle Community has three features – Scan & Notify, Crowd Tracing and Health Tracker.
These features encourage users to stay at least 1m apart from other people, to stay out of crowded places and to be conscious of their own health as well as members of the community.
The Health Tracker feature which was specifically designed for the UTAR community, enables the management to track and monitor their students’ body temperatures so those who are infected or are not well can be prevented from entering the campus. This reduces the risk of infecting others.
This practice is also in line with the government’s standard operating procedures during this pandemic to ensure that members entering the campus are symptom-free.
The Scan & Notify feature allows users to practise social distancing by defining their preferred range of personal comfort zone and mode of alert, and the app will scan and alert the user if the comfort zone has been breached. The app also traces all Bluetooth enabled devices within the defined range at default to ensure the accuracy of alerts.
The Crowd Tracing feature lets users view live clusters of ‘hi-hive’ crowds in the area of their interest on a map and avoid risks of group gathering and exposure to the virus.
UTAR president Prof Ewe Hong Tat said these features are useful for keeping the community safe and to prevent the spread of the virus. Silverlake co-founder and chief executive officer Joseph Yeong said the new features were developed specifically with the well- being of communities in mind.
“It is our responsibility to practise social distancing and this is one of the tools to avoid being exposed to this virus,” he added.
These new features are being tested at UTAR. The app is available for all communities and can be downloaded on the App Store or Google Play.