NGH launches augmented reality app

Northampton General Hospital has become only the second NHS hospital in the UK to use an exciting new technology that delivers information to staff and patients’ via their mobile phones or tablets.

NGH Plus is the new free app launched by the hospital this week.  It uses a technology called Augmented Reality so people can find out more about hospital news and services just by pointing their mobile device at visual triggers placed throughout the hospital sites and at photos in its Insight magazine.

All people have to do is download the NGH Plus app and point it at a photo, poster or logo wherever they see the "scan photo for video" symbol.

The app recognises the image and launches rich content including video, downloads and opportunities to use interactive buttons on the touch screen.

Head of Communications Sally-Anne Watts said: “We know a growing number of our patients and staff want to keep up to date with hospital news using their mobile devices.  We have more views on our website from mobile device than PCs and when we look at the statistics from our YouTube channel we can see that our videos are viewed mostly on phones and tablets.

“So we’ve launched this app to help us to reach people who prefer to find out information and news digitally. It adds to, rather than replaces, all the ways we currently communicate with our staff and patients. And once someone has downloaded the app we can keep in touch with them when we need to with important messages, like the headlines you might receive from a news app.

“We’ve launched the app using the latest edition of our Insight magazine but we plan to develop the service further over the coming months.”

Anyone using the app with the autumn edition of the hospital magazine Insight will be able to access interviews including the blood transfusion team and a specialist nurse for elderly patients.

The NGH Plus app can be downloaded free from the App Store or Google Play.