In the campus with INDOAR

“Turn right, go straight for about 100 meters then take the third left continue walking then take the second right then ……”

And the instructions continue. Well, we all must have met such human navigators that come handy in situations where you stand in a known location but an unknown locality. Most of the times we do reach our destinations but what if we don’t? What if we end up in the exact opposite direction of where we were supposed to go? The situation becomes even more grim when you are not at the best of your health, you have your case and reference papers in your hand and have to go searching for the serology department when it’s raining heavily and you roam the entire 44 acres huge campus but keep missing the small way that goes right beside the Ganesh temple. Seems horrifying, right?

Many patients who come to the jj hospital with high hopes, end up getting confused before getting treated. The huge campus that has departments spread all over the campus makes it quite tedious for them to remember the routes , thus creating a delay in submitting their samples or even reporting to the OPD’s for their check-ups ; of which many succeed in making the situation of the patient even more complicated. Dr.Monali, the head of the Outdoor Patients Department of the Sir J J Hospital quoted,” Missing out your OPD or approaching the destination a bit late might seem a simple problem but this has taken a huge toll on the patients’ side and sometimes even costed lives.”

But as it is righteously said that every problem has a solution; this problem was no exception for it. Mr. Jaideep Malhotra, the founder and CEO of Indoar Navigation Systems, approached the M.I.C.E. LABS @J.J Hospital Mumbai, with an idea that would help patients reach their desired location instead of scouting the campus. He presented his idea infront of the MICE Labs steering committee and the Dean of Grant Medical College – Dr. Ajay Chandanwale , along with Dr Joshi – Vice Dean GGMC , of developing a smartphone based application that would use augmented reality to guide the person ; where once downloaded it wouldn’t need any internet connection for further uses making it easier for working in low signal areas as well. This app has been highly inspired from the application Dorothy which is being developed in the United States for senior citizens suffering from episodes of memory loss in fragments. This app helped them to navigate through paths and ways where they were likely to forget the route; for example – their way back from a park. It does so by utilizing a simple method – the camera of the phone that helps them trace the correct way back to their home.

Indoar was designed on prototypes and models that were developed by team of Mr.Jaideep Malhotra of various malls and theme parks such as Adlabs Imagica. This app offers features such as audio guidance available in the three preferred languages of the locals – Marathi, Hindi, and English. Once the app is turned on, the app identifies the location of the phone with the help the GPS (Global Positioning System) in the campus and uses the camera with markers like arrowheads to guide the person to the location that is selected from a drop down menu available on its screen.

Just like any other project, this one has been scheduled to proceed in a systematic manner where once formed correctly, it will undergo an intensive testing phase in which the students of the medical college in the campus would be using it and providing the feedback of its service. Since they are well-versed with the campus, their suggestions would help the app to be accurate so as to provide a better user experience once it is launched. Next step would be an attempt to incorporate an augmented reality in the app which would help overcome the barriers of literacy seen in few patients.

“If we succeed in saving even a single life with the help of this app, it would be a great success and a great contribution to the healthcare society

-Mr. Jaydeep Malhotra.