InStock
Emergency supply locator for the COVID-19 pandemic
By: Elad Nava
The problem
During the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens who legitimately need access to emergency essentials are unable to locate them in stores due to panic buying and the sudden surge in demand.
This includes essentials needed for survival such as:
- Medicine
- Food
- Water
- Hygiene products
Paying a visit to multiple stores for stock check in-person is a tedious task and may contribute to further spread of Coronavirus.
We call up pharmacies & supermarkets to confirm stock
We built an intelligent AI virtual assistant Amy 🤖 to call all the pharmacies & supermarkets in a city simultaneously, asking store reps to confirm stock of essentials.
Listen to 1 of a 1,000 real calls Amy made in London to confirm stock:
InStock helps citizens locate stores stocking emergency essentials
InStock displays a live map of nearby pharmacies and supermarkets that recently confirmed essentials in stock, such as:
- Pain relief medicine (paracetamol)
- Cough medicine
- Digital thermometers
- Hand sanitizer
- Antibacterial soap
- Bottled water
- Canned food
- Pasta/rice
Technology in use
InStock is built mobile-first with desktop support using:
1) React frontend
2) Google Maps JS v3
3) Google Places API
4) Node.js backend API
5) MongoDB database
6) Hosted on AWS
7) Twilio for calls
Outgoing calls
We make use of Twilio to make outgoing calls to pharmacies & supermarkets using our proprietary AI virtual assistant algorithm.
Live Demo
InStock is currently live in London
Web app (Mobile-first + desktop-friendly)
Providing municipalities insight into up-to-date store stock status
Municipalities can leverage our virtual assistant Amy 🤖 to call all the pharmacies & supermarkets in a given city simultaneously, and obtain up-to-date stock shortage status in less than 30 minutes.
Local governments and municipalities can officially endorse InStock and formally request cooperation with Amy's stock checks during the pandemic.
Helping citizens regain access to essentials
InStock keeps stock status up-to-date so that citizens may visit the map at any time to check where they can still purchase essentials to survive, without having to visit multiple stores in person, especially useful for the vulnerable populations.
Ready for worldwide deployment
InStock is ready and live in London, and can be deployed in any other city or country in a matter of days, and Amy 🤖 our AI virtual assistant supports multiple languages (incl. Hebrew).
