MOCHA

Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed university students' lifestyles. MOCHA is a platform for sharing and tracking room-level locations on a university campus using Bluetooth beacons detected by smartphones, supporting contact tracing, congestion monitoring, and reservation services.

Features

• Room-level location detection: Automatically detects visited places by scanning Bluetooth beacons installed in each room using smartphones
• Privacy-conscious data sharing: Collected location data is shared according to predefined user settings
• Multiple use cases: Room-level contact tracing, congestion monitoring, and space reservation services

Deployment

• Deployed to over 6,500 users for one year at a university campus, with 200 Bluetooth beacons installed across 181 spaces
• Outlining app benefits encouraged installation, and reinforced connections in small private groups encouraged continuous usage
• Introduced to the campus community through a comedy-skit explainer video produced with the university's Faculty of Engineering, featuring the comedy duo Jarujaru
• Published on the App Store ("UTokyo MOCHA") and Google Play, and still operated as a campus check-in and reservation platform beyond the pandemic

Significance

MOCHA demonstrates a scalable approach to understanding and supporting student behavior and well-being on university campuses through lightweight, privacy-conscious indoor location sensing.