WakeCap is a smart hard-hat monitoring device that tracks the proximity of construction workers to each other. It is a part of the Autodesk Technology Center in San Francisco, and was initially developed back in 2017 with the goal of improving efficiency and safety.

Covered in a recent article by Autodesk, earlier this year, Besix, one of WakeCap's customers, discovered that a construction worker on a site of 2,200 people had contracted COVID-19. The construction group asked WakeCap if there was a way to see where this worker was on site and who they had been in contact with. Since the monitoring capabilities were already in place, WakeCap was able to provide Besix with a list of everyone who had been in contact with the worker over an extended period of time. They were also able to map out the person's movements across the site.

"We can enter, in the case of COVID, a particular badge number, and it will give you a list of who’s been in contact with that person," said Daniel Pifko, WakeCap's vice president for North America. An application that was initially designed to help with jobsite efficiency has now proved an invaluable tool in the mitigation of the risk of spreading disease.