MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

AI-Tourist against contagion !

One-line solution summary:

Platform for managing tourists flows in heritage sites through the use of a AI simulations, applied to control Covid-19 contagion

Pitch your solution.

Tourism globally accounts for 1 of every 10 jobs, and Covid-19 halted that wealth, because there is a high risk of contagion in crowded places such as touristic sites. A tool that provides control over crowd dynamics contributes to regain control over visitor's safety. AI-Tourist against contagion ! Is an AI powered platform for managing tourists' flows in heritage sites in times of Covid-19. Our tool simulates and analyses tourists and staff movement inside a site to inform decision making. As Covid-19 focused feature, such simulation identifies sightseeing routes that allow social distancing while maximizing visitors capacity. Our team has worked for 5 years in the AI model as a MIT PhD dissertation and now we are launching it to the world. With the route management we will ensure enough safeness to regain trust in visiting heritage sites. One pilot project helps reopen 100.000 jobs and perhaps millions more around the world!

Film your elevator pitch.

What specific problem are you solving?

Because of Covid-19 100.8 millions jobs in tourism will be lost in 2020. This industry accounts for 330 million jobs and one third will be lost if nothing is done. The problem scale is global, more acute for developing countries because of their fragile economies. However, such solutions can only achieve so much. So far the solutions have been to create social distancing protocols for the visitors, among other basic solutions that leave the sites welcoming between one eighth to one quarter of their usual visitor capacity. This translated to scarcity and precarity for the local communities who's jobs depend on tourism. The problem is that heritage site managers have little to no tools to gauge the numerous variables that affect visitors contagion risk. Some software can do basic procedural simulations that are costly and manually crafted. In addition, managers need constant reevaluation of the tourist itineraries. A service that provides solutions with an holistic approach is needed, specially to regain visitor's trust.

What is your solution?

Our solution is to use computing to enhance control over the factors that affect covid-19 spread. Using the power of reinforcement Learning (AI) we simulate tourists and staff to manage their flows over the site. We use data from the site, train a model and predict how people will follow the touristic routes. Enabling local administrators to manage the tourists flows in coordination with the flows of staff and tourist guides. The managers can dynamically plan social distancing compliance to ensure lowering Covid-19 contagion risk, and at the same time maximizing capacity. Reassuring safety to global visitors with precise information about their visit. Guiding how to behave to protect themselves while having an nourishing touristic experience. Restoring lost jobs to the local community, directly for site staff and touristic guides when reactivating the tourism, and indirectly for tourism related jobs such as restaurants and accommodations. Restoring tourism related revenue for the developing countries (~10% of countries annual revenues) helping to restore their economies. Protecting the heritage site by setting routes that minimize human impact. Mostly, the AI-Tourist platform increases health security for every human in a heritage site.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Our solution has applications not only in tourism but in educational infrastructure, public spaces, transportation among others. As the new normal may continue indefinitely, social distancing becomes a powerful measure for living after the arrival of Covid-19. Our vision is to use the tourism case to further the development and laterly release the tool for nonprofits and welfare institutions. We see applications in low income schools. We are happy to apply artificial intelligence in the benefit of humanity. Consequently, our current solution serves local government tourism managers, who are in need of providing solutions to reactivate tourism while the pandemic continues. Visitors pedestrian flows are a constant problem for managers, and therefore our solution will serve them even after the pandemic. As mentioned, our end customers are visitors in need for safety when sightseeing heritage sites while the pandemic lasts. Our platform ensures to lower the risk of contagion for the heritage site staff workers and touristic guides.

Explain how the problem, your solution, and your solution’s target population relate to the Challenge.

AI-Tourist against contagion ! Platform is a response to the Covid-19 pandemic emerging from the problem of developing countries' tourism. Many say that the pandemic is a sanitary emergency, but also an economic emergency. In the precarious conditions of many low income and low skilled workers, such as tourism laborers, health security is only possible through economic security and safe working conditions. We propose to achieve health security through economic security by ensuring job access and safety conditions in their workplace. Our tool not only protects tourists but also protects tourism workers.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Cambridge, MA, USA.

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one community

Who is the primary delegate for your solution?

Paloma Gonzalez Rojas, MIT PhD Candidate