Saudi Authorities Use Robots to Guide in Grand Mosque of Mekka

The management of services in the Grand Mosque of Mecca, the holiest place in Islam, has decided to introduce modern technologies and techniques of artificial intelligence (AI), in order to improve the system of services to guide the pilgrims.

The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques of Mecca and Medina has introduced modern technology and artificial intelligence by providing a guiding robot for the pilgrims that guides pilgrims and Umrah performers on how to perform rituals, issue fatwas, and answer the questioners with the possibility of adding simultaneous translation into languages, as well as communicating with the sheiks from a distance, and setting a number of introductory directives with more than language, by remote control of the robot.

The guiding robot also supports 11 languages represented in Arabic, English, French, Russian, Persian, Turkish, Malay, Urdu, Chinese, Bengali, and Hausa, a language that prevails in west Africa.