Judges Choice: Atlas | Making social distancing at schools more practical, efficient and fun.

What is the problem you found?

Community transmission of COVID-19 poses a health hazard in enclosed areas such as schools. In compliance with social distancing guidelines, most schools have implemented measures to mitigate this risk, through strategies such as closing off certain areas, reducing number of students in certain spaces. Whilst these measures are necessary, they may pose disruptions to a student's routine throughout their day. For instance, students who study at breaks have to spend considerable time navigating around the school to find an appropriate location since less spaces are available. 

A similar problem is faced by teachers and staff at educational institutions, whose schedules may be disrupted due to students moving in and out of, and occupying, spaces.

What is your opportunity?

How might we mitigate the risk of community transmission, whilst keeping with social-distancing guidelines, without ameliorating disruptions posed by social distancing measures and guidelines?

Who is your audience?

Students and staff at educational (mainly secondary and tertiary) institutions.

What Is Your Solution?

Our app: Atlas

It allows schools to upload an interactive map of the school's spaces, using colours to designate the percentage of filled capacity in each space. The app's functions will be split into 3 sections: ATLAS, TIMETABLE, and COMMUNITY. 

ATLAS:

An interactive, live map. At the beginning of each day, students select the spaces which they plan to be studying in the duration of that period. This data is compiled from each student into a "live" map, categorised by each time slot, which utilises colour to visualise the space's estimated occupancy.

For more routine-oriented students, instead of updating this information at the beginning of each day, they may choose to "repeat" their selections every week, or fortnightly.

TIMETABLE:

On the initial installation of Atlas, students will log in with their school account. Schools will upload timetables for the entire cohort to Atlas beforehand. The app will customise and integrate this information to the MAP. Students will then be able to view which classrooms are to be occupied with classes during a particular period.

COMMUNITY:

A school leaderboard, aimed to incentivise usage of the app. For instance, a high school may choose to integrate their "house-point" system to Atlas, where students who consistently use the app (uploading information on what spaces they plan to be occupy) will be rewarded with "house-points". This information will be compiled onto the LEADERBOARD which ranks "houses" according to this information. This not only encourages community spirit, but individual organisational skills.