The University of Tokyo has developed an app for engineering faculty and students to check the degree of congestion in each classroom at a glance as a countermeasure against the infection of the new coronavirus on campus. I am considering increasing the number of classes.
This app is called "MOCHA" and was developed by faculty members such as Professor Yoshihiro Kawahara of the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering with volunteer students.
If you download the app to your smartphone, you can see at a glance how crowded the capacity is by linking with the installed equipment, by color-coding each room such as a classroom or library in three stages.
In addition, if a user is found to be infected with the new coronavirus, it is possible to notify a person who may have contacted the user in a non-personally identifiable manner with the consent of the user.
This app can be used mainly in the buildings of the Faculty of Liberal Arts on the Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo and the Faculty of Engineering on the Hongo Campus, and is used by about 2000 faculty members and students.
It is rare for university faculty members to voluntarily develop and operate infection control apps.
The University of Tokyo will take thorough measures against infections, such as by using this app, and will consider conducting face-to-face lessons as much as possible in addition to online classes in the new year.
Professor Kawahara said, "We have a system that takes privacy into consideration, and we want you to use it effectively."