Ubihere Enables Companies to Track Assets and Movement without GPS
If the true measure of an innovative technology today is the impact it can have on multiple, diverse industries, then Ubihere, the Columbus company that creates positioning systems and products that work inside buildings to track people and things, is on a path to do great things.
With Ubihere’s GPS-free location mapping, all types of businesses, from hospitals to factories to retail stores can track what matters—from movement to physical assets to environmental data—all in real-time.
Ubihere’s system is based on anonymous video analysis positioning technology, which is patented from The Ohio State University, coupled with tag technology and advanced machine learning analytics. First applications are in healthcare and retail.
Hospitals Improve Layouts and Asset Tracking to Become More Responsive to Patient Needs
“Imagine how many times a nurse or other caregivers go back and forth,” said Alice Hilliard, VP Business Development and Marketing at Ubihere. “By tracking how people and objects move around, we can help departments figure out opportunities to lay out the floor better to allow the staff to save time and steps.”
Ubihere’s tags (which Hilliard says can be attached to virtually any item), cameras, and software track assets to the centimeter. The system monitors through an anonymous video feed or a tag.
“With a blueprint loaded into the software,” Hilliard said, “the system knows whether an IV pump went down the hall, turned left or right, entered an elevator, or was left in a patient’s room.”
The information is available on an easy-to-use dashboard. Anyone authorized to access the data can reach it from a mobile phone, a tablet, or a desktop.
The benefits are many. Caregivers know where to find the equipment they need when they need it. Additionally, as the equipment is used more efficiently. The Ubihere system helps departments accurately determine the appropriate inventory, improve utilization, and avoid purchasing equipment they don’t need.
Retailers Gain Information to Optimize Shoppers’ In-Store Experience
In today’s world of retailing, the savviest brands know: When it comes bricks and motor and ecommerce, the choice isn’t either/or—it’s both.
“What they don’t know is if the space they are allocating to a product in a store is being used the way they had hoped,” Hilliard said.
Ecommerce is all about price and feature comparison, efficiency, ease, and speed. In store shopping and buying is all about the experience and interacting with the goods. Picking up the purse. Touching the fabric. Smelling the lotion. Tasting the crackers. Trying on the shoes.
Ubihere is all about tracking the customer journey through the store and capturing that behavior.
“If a store has a table in front, does the customer stop and pick up the merchandise or do they just walk on by?” Hilliard said. “Does a display in a different location get more interaction? Does a touch translate into a transaction?”
With ecommerce, customer behavior is tracked automatically in real-time with Google Analytics and other SEO tools. With Ubihere, brick and motor retailers can gain the same intelligence and decision-making edge.
Next Steps
Ubihere is initially focusing on beta tests in hospital and retail environments. With partnerships and applications in fleet management, emergency response, national security, and manufacturing, Ubihere offers diverse industries access to critical information to make improved operating decisions.
“We have a brilliant technology,” Hilliard said. “We are working with the right people and gaining traction with beta customers. It is exciting. We love the challenge of testing our technology and working with customers.”
