Life during Covid: Start-ups, tech firms offer digital tools to keep offices, malls safe

For Anil Kumar, 36, a security guard at an office building in Gurgaon’s upmarket Cyberhub, handling visitors is less risky now. Armed with an app, Kumar has managed to reduce physical contact with visitors entering the building. He takes their temperature with an infrared temperature tool, feeds it into the app and scans the visitor’s QR code. Once this is done, the visitor gets tracked digitally. The app also gives Kumar updates on footfalls, physical distancing, mask compliance and parking status.

With the outbreak of Covid-19, several offices and malls are fast adopting different digital tools to ensure safety of their staff and customers as India goes through the unlocking process. Even as the nation is still grappling with an uptick in the number of daily infections, several start-ups and tech firms are offering solutions for contactless entry/exit, shop-floor customer management and contactless parking.

Consumer robotics firm Milagrow is offering iMap 9, a robot that can navigate and sanitise floors without human intervention. In April, this AI-powered robot was tested at AIIMS’ Covid ward for contactless sanitisation. Speaking to FE, Milagrow founder Rajeev Karwal said: “From AIIMS, now we have customers like Fortis, Apollo, Manipal (Bengaluru), Reliance (Mumbai) and Moolchand (Delhi). We are in advanced discussions with Max, Cloudnine and railway hospital (Delhi).”

Karwal added that the demand for floor-cleaning robots is steadily growing in India. Around 10,000 robots were sold in FY20, but in FY21 demand is up manifold.

For Delhi-based start-up Park+, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to its mall navigation and contactless parking solution getting a lot of interest among retailers. Co-founder Amit Lakhotia said: “When visitors come to a mall, they have to confirm their health status through Aarogya Setu to the guard. The guard uses a specially designed Park+ app to scan the QR code on Setu app. His app will show the visitor’s name and health status. He will also measure the temperature using a digital thermometer.”

Park+ also introduced contactless parking where visitors can feed their car’s registration number in the mall pass and make payment using digital channels. This information is constantly updated and when the visitor leaves, a status report is shared with the guard in real time.

VAMS Global, which offers visitor management solutions, has introduced a contactless check-in/check-out solution. It reads body temperature from 18 degree Celsius and ensures that visitors have a mask on their faces. The solution covers staff, guests, visitors, etc and ensures implementation of recommended processes in all properties with audit control and real-time tracking.

“Visitors only need to preregister themselves, on the basis of which they receive an access code in advance for seamless entry. The solution also has a digital Aarogya Setu declaration form, making it easy for hotels to collect and track compliance as per government,” VAMS Global CEO Nikhil Kothary said.

Veda Labs, a retail analytics start-up, is offering occupancy management solution. “When Covid happened, we realised that customers are afraid to visit stores. We are offering a suite which makes sure that visitor’s body temperature is not high or customer occupancy management and social distancing is as per norms,” Veda Labs CMO Veer Mishra said.

The firm is in talks with V-Mart and Blue Tokai for this suite. Besides, Titan stores and some restaurants in Mumbai are also testing it. Their resellers have recently given a virtual demo to Shri Siddhivinayak Temple Trust and the company is in the process of filing a tender for this.