New Technology Alerts Muslims to Prayer

"U.S. technicians have created a new mobile telephone application that alerts Muslims when it's time for one of their five daily prayers. Susan Wyche, a Georgia Institute of Technology doctoral candidate, said she and her colleagues focused on Islam, partially because of the religion's popularity and partially because Muslims have historically used technology, such as compasses and telescopes, to help them determine the direction to face during prayer. Sun Dial tells users the time to pray is approaching by using an image of the sun lining up with a green circle, she said. 'When the sun lines up with the circle, it's time to pray. Unlike similar systems, ours relies on graphics rather than text and graphs to communicate prayer times,' said Wyche. 'Users drove this choice by telling us that tracking the sun was the most religiously valued method to determine prayer times.'"