The Saudi government is providing all necessary facilities to the pilgrims and visitors of the Grand Mosque through the expansion of the Haram and the implementation of the new navigation system, which guides pilgrims.
Seventy-five electronic screens have been installed inside and outside the Haram, explained Faris bin Mafooz Al-Saadi, the director general of the Operations and Maintenance Department of the Grand Mosque.
He explained that the screen system, which displays information in different languages, was designed for Ramadan with the help of a special team which worked around the clock to make sure it was ready on time.
Additionally, the “Al-Maqsad” navigation application was executed by Makkah Valley Company from Umm Al-Qura and was installed as part of the electronic screen system inside the Haram, with the cooperation of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Development Council.
“Al-Maqsad” contains geographical information about the Haram and helps pilgrims to find their way toward Kabba and other key sites, as well as toward the exits. The app can be installed on any smartphone.
Nabil bin Abdul Qadir, vice chairman of the Makkah Valley Technologies Corporation, said that “Al-Maqsad” is one of the most important applications that works to facilitate the movement of pilgrims and visitors around the Grand Mosque.
Saleh Bisalamh, CEO of the company, said Al-Maqsad will show the mobile users their location in Arabic and English and will help pilgrims find their way. It works without the need for Internet.
The application has been installed on the ground floor of the Grand Mosque and will soon be installed on the second floor.
About the AlMaqsad App
The application Al Maqsad does not need internet connection to determine location.
With this App Users can easily navigate to important areas and service checkpoints in all floors of the Grand Mosque. The app was downloaded by 30,000 users on various devices including Android, iPhone and iPad,” said Al-Hazmy.
Umm Al-Qura University Businesses and Information Creativity President Nabil Kowshak said his company Wadi Makkah for Technology designed the app.
“The app aims to facilitate the navigation of users in the Grand Mosque.
The app provides information on the services offered at the ground level of the mosque. The app was developed in cooperation with the Internal Navigation Company,” said Kowshak.
CEO of the Internal Navigation Company Saleh Basalamah said the app depends on core blue low energy sensors that send signals to the mobile phone of the user to determine the user’s location.
“The app can then instruct the user by voice where to go in order to reach the desired destination. The app also provides 3D maps to help users,” said Basalamah.
He also said there are 1,500 sensors dispersed all across the first floor of the Grand Mosque.
“The company will be working on the second phase of the project soon.
The app has eight features including offline usage. The app, which is in Arabic and English, is available in iOS and Android. A tour guide of the Grand Mosque works on Bluetooth,” said Basalamah.
He said that the Al Maqsad app also provides navigation to the main roads in Makkah, the Grand Mosque and its arenas, special needs services, the gates of the Grand Mosque, bus stops and other facilities.
You can download AlMaqsad Grand Mosque Navigation App from google play or itunes.
Here is the Link .
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