Intern Project
MobiCare
In the summer of 2023, our interns Amos, Filis, Ioana, Jiaqi, and Sophie dedicated nine weeks to developing solutions to improve people navigation in hospitals.
What was the journey to MobiCare?
Upon starting the internship, the interns interviewed HDI staff and their family members with experience in hospital settings. They discovered a common struggle among patients, visitors, and staff in navigating hospital premises.
In response, the interns decided to develop an indoor positioning and navigation app, to assist staff, patients, and visitors in finding their way around the hospital. The app also laid the framework for locating hospital equipment, improving efficiency and management of hospital resources.
The interns developed an iOS mobile app that combines an indoor positioning system with a navigation system. It addresses the common hospital challenge of indoor navigation. The app offers precise indoor navigation services, setting the foundation for further digital innovations within hospitals.
Indoor mapping
The interns tested whether Apple’s Indoor Maps program could be used to create an indoor map of a hospital. They manually drew an indoor map of the building where the HDI office is located and converted these drawings into Indoor Mapping Data Format (IMDF) files. These were submitted to Apple and, once approved, the interns used Apple’s Indoor Survey app to achieve precise positioning within the indoor space of the office building.
Indoor navigation
The indoor navigation feature of the app is based on graph theory’s shortest path algorithms. The interns used the office building to develop this feature, creating mathematical graph structures for the HDI office building. The app provides step-by-step navigation instructions and integrates accessibility features, such as the option to avoid staircases.
As can be seen in the sequence of app screenshots below, the app is able to create and display the shortest route from the user’s current location on the ground floor to “Scientia” on the 1st floor. It also provides step-by-step navigation instructions which are displayed at the top of the screen.
Deep Linking
The interns incorporated deep linking into the app to efficiently direct hospital patients or visitors. Deep links send users directly to a chosen location within an app. For example, a QR code can be added to patient hospital appointment letters, which when scanned, launches the app and pre-fills the location of the patient’s appointment within the hospital.
In the example shown below, a scan of the QR code would launch the app and pre-fill the location to “Syngenta” where “Mr Joe Bloggs” has their appointment.
What’s next for MobiCare?
Our talented interns have developed a remarkable prototype. Their app has the potential to significantly improve navigation in hospitals.
HDI would like to build on this foundation and transition the project from proof-of-concept to a full production system. Future developments may include updatable maps, dynamic allocation of medical devices, and real-time parking availability.