Pilgrims wishing to visit Grand Mosque can now experience a new service in the mosque, which is guidance from new four-wheeled robot guides.
With a 21-inch touch screen face-like display, the AI robot will drive around the mosque and help answer questions and guide worshipers about the obligatory rituals they must perform to complete their worships.
Uniquely, this robot has the ability to speak 11 languages, including Chinese, Russian, English, French, Farsi, and Turkish. The ability to speak various languages can certainly help connect pilgrims with sheiks and scholars in different languages.
The high-tech robot is equipped with a smart stoppage system that can detect objects or people around it to prevent collisions with these objects.
According to the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, the robot serves to enhance the services offered to the faithful during the visits to Makkah.
However, the new robot guides are not the only automated assistance available at the Grand Mosque in Makkah.
Previously, the Presidency has utilized automated cleaning robots tasked with cleaning, sterilizing, and disinfecting areas around the Two Holy Mosques, thereby helping prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. With a weight of 300 kg, the cleaning robots can accommodate water with a capacity of more than 68 liters and have a speed of 0-5 km per hour.
There are also other robots that roam the site between 8 am and 5 pm in charge of distributing zam zam water from the well under the mosque to visitors.
Both of these robots operate with smart systems and completely free from human intervention.
Not only to facilitate the worship of visitors and pilgrims for Hajj and Umrah, but the increased use of advanced technology carried out by the Presidency is also expected to educate Muslims worldwide about the use of new technologies, including artificial intelligence and e-learning. For example, is the recently launched Smart Quran to help visual disabilities read text in Braille.
