Ready? Tech. GO!: Tech versus COVID-19

By Sarah Dimock

A common enemy. It’s one of the most uniting forces throughout history, and when it comes to COVID-19, it seems that all of humanity has recently found an enemy in common. The coronavirus is a tricky combatant: invisible, widespread, and, as of yet, incurable. How is the world fighting back against these odds?

With technology.

Unmanned systems, engineering technologies, and even data science – nothing is off the table as the world races to combat this virus, and many IT and tech companies are jumping in to help. Here are just a few of the projects in the works helping us go for the knockout.

1. Apple and Google team up

As of early April, two rival tech giants have teamed up for what might be the first time ever. Apple and Google are working together to develop COVID-19 contact tracing technology which they hope will help with containing the spread of the virus. According to an Apple press release (linked above), “A number of leading public health authorities, universities, and NGOs around the world have been doing important work to develop opt-in contact tracing technology. To further this cause, Apple and Google will be launching a comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing. Given the urgent need, the plan is to implement this solution in two steps while maintaining strong protections around user privacy.” The first phase of their plan is set to launch in May, with both companies eventually planning to release an app for both Apple and Android products.

2. Data scientists get a boost from AI

Scientists are currently applying their powers of predictive problem solving to questions we need to be on top of during the spread of COVID-19, and artificial intelligence is speeding them up. Anything from monitoring the availability of hospital resources to tracking the spread of inaccurate information on social media is a data science problem which AI can assist with by helping scientists funnel through data faster. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently announced that it would offer government entities, research organizations, and industry access to innovative AI tools, as well as experts in data and public health to help combat COVID-19. “In healthcare, academia and industry are mostly set up for people to stay in their own lanes,” said James Hendler, the Tetherless World Professor of Computer, Web, and Cognitive Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and director of the Rensselaer Institute for Data Exploration and Applications (IDEA). “But people are rapidly beginning to realize that attacking this problem is going to require a collaborative effort.”

3. Finding new ways to build medical supplies for less

We’re not only seeing tech companies stepping up to build or donate critical supplies, but universities as well. Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and Yale have all committed to COVID-19 Technology Access Framework principles that will allow any technology they develop during this time to be rapidly and globally distributed. This means non-exclusive, royalty-free licensing of intellectual property rights for most types of technologies created during the pandemic and for a short period afterward.

Lest you think the Ivy Leaguers are the only ones helping out, at the Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts they’re working to develop open source designs for creating ventilators using 3D printing. “I just wanted to do something to help,” said Gregory Fischer, professor of robotics engineering and mechanical engineering, and director of the PracticePoint Medical Cyber-Physcial Systems R&D Center, who spearheaded the idea. “A lot of people are trying to contribute, and this is an area where we can make an impact. We’re taking things that are used every day in emergency medicine and finding a way to turn them into safe, reliable, and readily replicable ventilators that can save patients’ lives. And we’re sharing those designs with the world.”

4. Adapting existing tech

Although it might’ve been built for something else, we already have technology available to help us fight the coronavirus. Around the world, engineers are reimagining existing technology in everything from the use of robots to mirrors. Yes, mirrors. According to Smithsonian Magazine, tech innovator Kanav Kahol of Miaza Mirror wants to begin installing smart mirrors that teach proper handwashing in bathrooms everywhere. Their smart mirror, which can detect a person in front of it as they wave, plays an animated video guiding users through the multi-step hand-washing process recommended by the WHO. Kahol is currently exploring a potential collaboration with the Indian government to make Miaza Mirrors available in public restrooms around India, where handwashing is not as commonly practiced. He hopes, however, that these mirrors may someday be in world-wide use.

5. Drones to the rescue!

It’s probably an obvious one, but unmanned systems are allowing us to keep working to fight the virus while limiting contact with one another. Delivery drones are now carrying life-saving medicine, supplies, or even blood samples to people that need them. Factories are able to continue producing critical products with limited human interaction thanks to robotic arms and machines.

In some parts of China, robots are currently being used for Telemedicine, allowing doctors to continue communicating with patients remotely, saving time and allowing possibly contagious patients to remain isolated. These robots can deliver medicine, convey treatment instructions, and even read patient vitals and communicate them to medical staff. According to the New York Post, Wuchang field hospital in Wuhan was recently staffed by 5G powered androids to assist patients under quarantine. The project was made possible by a collaborative effort between Hubei officials and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

People all over the world are coming together to fight this disease. While we don’t have a cure yet, there’s no doubt that with scientists and innovators everywhere on the case, we will. Until then, we will just have to keep fighting the COVID-19 pandemic together, one tech at a time.