Prayer Rugs Go High Tech

Digital Prayer Rug

IslamOnline.net & Newspapers

Aboulsaadat hopes to work on the invention so that people of all faiths could use it in their religious activities. (Toronto Star Photo)

CAIRO — Using modern technology to serve Muslims better perform their religious rituals, a fourth-year PhD computer science student has designed a high-tech prayer rug equipped with sensors, lights and a Qur'an display screen.

"It will increase their understanding of the scriptures and the quality of the prayer," inventor Wael Aboulsaadat told the Toronto Star on Thursday, May 15.

Aboulsaadat, studying for his PhD at the University of Toronto's computer science department, has designed a prayer rug with built-in sensors that can detect the worshipper's posture.

If the user makes an error, such as missing or adding a step in the prayer sequence, the sensors will vibrate in alert.

Aboulsaadat says the vibration is a subtle way to help correct the error without breaking the performer's concentration.

"It's important not to interrupt flow, because that interrupts the focus of prayer."

Muslims pray five times a day, with each prayer made of a series of postures and movements, each set of which is called a rak'ah.

The eRug also has a notification mode that alerts the user to next prayer times and important religious holidays.

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