Page 18 - The Office People Projects

This past summer, The Office People was approached by a leading hospital with the opportunity to develop a web-based platform that would calculate and display the estimated time of arrival of the hospital's patient shuttles.
Our goal was to use the API from hospital's current GPS system, write an algorithm based on routing and traffic patterns, and design an easy-to-read/easy-to-follow digital display.
Moving through uncharted waters in a short amount of time, our developers discovered many moving parts that would need to be included in our development. We had to incorporate hardware, software, GPS drifting, GPS canyoning, route changes, weather factors, human error, and much more.
How does the completed application work?
Along with lots of well-written code, the application includes a back-end for manual override and control. We developed a simple layout that allows dispatchers to turn the system on and off, add and remove shuttles, as well as a dashboard for sending live messages and updates to each of the patient shuttle displays.
How are you displaying the application?
The displays themselves are using Sharp's web-based digital signage software. Using Sharp's program editor we incorporated our newly designed HTML application.
Three-fourths of the screen displays the patient's current location, the shuttle's current location, the current time, the current weather, and the shuttle's estimated time of arrival. Our design team was able to incorporate moving shuttle icons with flashing circles to show the viewer exactly where their shuttle is located on the route. The bottom portion of the screen is filled with content and scrolling messages distributed by the hospital's communication and marketing team.
The task proved challenging, but the outcome shows rewarding results. Patients will no longer wonder when their next shuttle is about to arrive.
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