An app developed by Feng Chia University can help authorities track the whereabouts of people deemed to be at high risk of COVID-19 infection and who they have come into contact with, and issue notifications that people should isolate to help prevent the virus from spreading, its creators said on Friday.
The system contributes to disease prevention efforts by removing reliance on people’s memory when they are asked about their whereabouts, as the app provides digital tracking of the device it is installed on, the university said.
If a person with the app is confirmed to have COVID-19, the system would help track where they had been while likely infectious, allowing authorities to notify people who had also been in those areas, the university said.
Photo provided by Feng Chia University
This would help prevent cluster infections, it said.
The basic idea for the project originated in a group chat that included Lin Wei-yen (林威延), a professor in the university’s Department of Civil Engineering, and other professors, who helped create the app.
Kuan Chih-wei (管志偉), a professor in the university’s Geographic Information System Research Center, developed the app’s front end, while Lai Cheng-wei (賴正偉), who is also with the research center, and Shiu Yi-shiang (徐逸祥), a professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Information, helped develop the risk assessment platform and other functions, the university said.
The researchers said that the app can accurately track people’s movement while indoors.
The system only alerts people of a risk of infection when it is necessary, removing concerns that it would be a bother or an invasion of privacy, the team said.
Test results showed that it can track people indoors and outdoors, with a margin of error of 3m to 5m, it said.
University dean Lee Bing-jean (李秉乾) said that the system would help bolster disease prevention efforts.
The university has already started using the system on campus, Lee said.
“We not only encourage our faculty and students to use the app, but we hope that it could be used throughout Taiwan and perhaps even the world,” he said.
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