Virtual Medical Concierge Application

The use of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) can be difficult for patients and visitors to use due to the size and complexity of the facility. The current a kiosk concierge system cannot offer turn-by-turn facility navigation. This proposal seeks to design a combined indoor/outdoor navigation service to aid using and locating services and people in the WRNMMC facility. The enabling technology is Bluetooth Low Energy. These beacons are tiny computers, from the size of USB connector up to the size of a pack of cigarettes. Beacons are distributed about the facility and emit a Bluetooth LE signal identifying themselves. A smart phone can determine its location, speed, and direction by ranging and triangulation from multiple beacons. The additional components needed for an indoor navigation system are building schematics and a system to plot routes through the building. Adaptive Methods route planning systems, Context-aware Multi-Objective Planner (CMOP), will be leveraged for routing. CMOP has the ability to combine user needs with building layout to optimize the route per user from entry into a GPS fenced zone around the WRNMMC to the users final destination. CMOP may be used to determine facility transit times prior to visiting.