IWKids is an app designed to enhance the Emergency Room (ER) experience for children, parents, and healthcare staff. It was developed for the Youth AI Pitch Competition at the Atlantic AI Summit 2025, hosted by Saint Mary's University (SMU) on May 3, 2025. The competition challenged teams to propose AI-driven solutions to improve the ER experience at the IWK Hospital, with judging criteria based on creativity, practicality, impact, and clarity of presentation. The concept for IWKids was developed by the Bay View High School Tech Club, where I led the app development. The app was developed using Expo, a framework that streamlines the creation and deployment of React Native apps. It features an integration with OpenAI to power a medical diagnostic platform capable of providing preliminary diagnoses, and leverages Twilio to enable the transmission of SMS text messages for communication and notifications to families. After advancing through the initial qualifying round, we made it to the final round alongside seven other teams and proudly secured second place, earning a $500 prize. The experience was eye-opening for all of us, offering valuable insights into innovation in healthcare and the importance of collaborative, human-centered design in tackling real-world problems using AI.
- Long wait times
- Confusing procedures
- Overwhelmed parents
- Busy staff can’t give 1:1 attention
- Kids pick up on adult emotions, stressed parents result in overwhelmed kids
- AI-powered medical platform allows families to perform pre-diagnosis using text, uploaded video and/or images
- The platform explains the medical condition in simple terms and makes recommendations on possible remediations, including a possible ER visit
- The app allows ER pre-checkin and real-time updates to parents of check in confirmation, possible wait times using AI analytics
- The app also allows families to provide feedback to encourage ER staff and to improve services
- The app supports engaging games for kids, breathing exercises, and tells kids stories
- AI-enabled pre-diagnosis platform gauges patient condition and urgency to ensure critical cases are prioritized (data-driven decisions)
- The platform uses specialized medical AI in conjunction with provincial medical data to provide healthcare and diagnostics
- The platform can also integrate with provincial One Person One Record (OPOR) platform
- Care updates syncs with hospital systems and uses AI predictive analytics to provide real-time waiting period estimates
- The platform uses SMS technology to keep families in the loop
- Calm Zone provides a space for kids and families to reduce stress and stay engaged during their visit
- Platform provides a feedback mechanism which is AI-enabled to find problem areas and improve services
- Kids are calmer, engaged, and less stressed
- Parents feel reassured, supported, and well-informed
- ER Staff can focus more on clinical care
- Reduced ER traffic due to self-diagnostic features
- Increased system efficiencies due to integration with provincial systems
- Overall better healthcare experience for all stakeholders
- AI Avatars that Mirror Emotions
- Multilingual + Sign Language Support
- Personalized Coping Plans
- Post-Visit Feedback + Follow-Up
- Virtual calls with doctors
- Digital Twin for IWK