Saudi
students' mobile app that will help pilgrims find their way
A team of
students from King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia has developed a mobile
app that will help pilgrims find their way around the pilgrimage route.
This will eliminate the problem of losing
their way during the Hajj, which is very common during the Hajj period.
According to
Arab News, a team of students led by Hassan Al-Salami has developed a helpful
app that is interactive and allows pilgrims to find their way to their camp and
easily reach their destination from crowded places.
Hassan
Al-Salami said, “The aim of this innovative idea of the app is to make the
journey of pilgrims easier. We will present it at conferences related to Hajj
and Umrah.”
“Our desire
and effort will be to find a sponsor. We want to integrate this app with the
existing Naskh app.”
The idea of
this app first came to light during personal observation during the 2022
Hajj when Hassan Al-Salami and his team saw that many pilgrims were worried
about finding their camps and returning to them.
Not only
were these pilgrims unable to pay for many of the Hajj obligations, but they
also faced delays in transporting their luggage and reaching their vehicles.
Using the
internet, the app helps pilgrims identify the location of their camp even when
they are offline while using the app. However, they have to download it once
initially.
A notable
feature of using this app is that you can use the phone's camera to find the
direction of your camp, just like the direction of the Qibla.
The app has
verbal and visual instructions that will act as a personal guide to help
pilgrims navigate and find their way.
This app
will not only advise pilgrims to take more than one route to reach their
destination but will also keep them informed about the facilities available on
the way. As the rush increases at a location while searching for a camp, app
users will continue to receive notifications.
The app also
has a feature that will help the user directly contact the supervisor or other
concerned authorities, which is not only important from a safety point of view
but will also increase the user’s self-confidence.
Right now,
this app is available as an initial or test model and requires government
approval, but one thing is clear: this app project is a testament to the
creativity and technical capabilities of Saudi youth.
More than
one million Hajj pilgrims come to Saudi Arabia from abroad every year.
Initiatives like this application offer practical technological solutions for
Hajj pilgrims, a means of advancing Saudi Arabia's commitment to providing the
best possible performance and care for Hajj pilgrims.