Innovation in The Times Of COVID

The global activity has been brought to stand still in the wake of this unprecedented pandemic. While a handful of businesses are rekindling their work, the future looks bleak at the moment. Nevertheless, people have started resuming their lives by figuring out ways and means to deal with this looming threat of infection.

A few undergraduate students from the University of Virginia and the University of Notre dam have come together to design an application called the TraceX.

This application relies on anonymity and is focused on informing the user about his proximity or contact with a COVID infected person.

One of the developers of this application, Rohan Taneja told the UVA about this application and was quoted as saying “TraceX is a privacy-preserving contact tracing platform that enables users to play an active role in containing the spread of COVID-19 within their communities. It is currently an iOS-based app that uses Bluetooth signals to determine when someone has been in close proximity to an individual who has COVID-19 symptoms or has recently tested positive for COVID-19. These low-energy Bluetooth signals provide a way for users to anonymously notify all of their recent close contacts if they test positive. The app does not use any location data, so TraceX users remain completely anonymous to each other and are not required to input any other information.”

This application makes use of mild Bluetooth waves to detect proximity or contact, and minimum information is solicited from the user.

Apart from Rohan Taneja, the other developers are Emerson Berlik and Matthew Jennings. TraceX is available for use now.

As the educational institutions plan on resuming their operations, utmost I’m precaution needs to be observed in order to mitigate the risk of transmission.

Though the times are tough, but it is heartening to see that mankind is finding its way around it, and that is the right spirit.