From ‘GoCoronaGo’ to ‘Sampark-o-Meter’: IISc, IITs develop mobile apps to aid fight COVID-19

From “GoCoronaGo” to “Sampark-o-Meter“, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and four Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have developed several mobile applications to aid the fight against coronavirus in the country. The app “GoCoronaGo” has been developed by a team at IISc which can help identify people who may have crossed paths with COVID-19 suspects.

“The app will help identify people who may have crossed paths with COVID-19 positive individuals or suspects by tracking their interactions in the past using bluetooth and GPS. It uses temporal network analytics in the backend to understand the risk propensity even for distant contacts, understand disease spread and identify high-risk people who are likely to contract and spread the virus,” Tarun Rambha, a faculty member at IISc, told PTI.

“It also provides alerts on isolation and proximity scores, and helps enhance social distancing. It also has a geo-fencing feature for those who are under quarantine, and has the ability to provide their symptoms which is used in the risk evaluation,” Rambha added. A B.Tech student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar has developed a mobile-based app called “Sampark-o-Meter” which can indicate areas on maps with maximum coronavirus infection possibility.

“The app generates a ‘risk score’ after considering various factors and can alert people to take precautionary measures including self-isolate or consulting a doctor. The app would facilitate users to estimate corona sampark risk rating.