News

Sajdah Is The World’s First Smart Rug That Helps You Perfect Your Prayers

Sajdah features a built-in LED display, a speaker, and rechargeable batteries, allowing it to display the text of the Holy Quran and play voice prompts to guide you as you pray.

Published

5 years ago

May 6, 2021

Joanna Melki

Sajdah

The Middle East has always had a passion for technology and innovative solutions in general. When the coronavirus pandemic first hit, private businesses and public organizations in the region quickly implemented digital solutions to overcome the challenges presented to them.

While global vaccination efforts are accelerating and paving the way for the eventual transition to normalcy, it will still take a lot of time for the last social distancing measure to be lifted. Until then, millions of Muslims around the world will continue praying at home, not always being sure how to pray without directions.

Qatar-based Thakaa Technologies is now trying to solve this problem with their first-ever smart educational prayer rug, called Sajdah. The rug is available exclusively on LaunchGood, and you can get it with a discount of nearly 50 percent if you hurry up.

“Technology is entering every part of our lives. We’re using technology to communicate, learn, socialize, exercise, and organize our life,” said Abdulrahman Saleh Khamis, CEO and co-founder of Thakaa Technologies. “We hope everyone is as excited as we are and urge our Muslim brothers and sisters to log on to LaunchGood and pre-order Sajdah,” added Abdul Ali, the co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of Thakaa Technologies.

Also Read: How To Clean Your Apple Watch Like A Pro

Sajdah features a built-in LED display, a speaker, and rechargeable batteries, allowing it to display the text of the Holy Quran and play voice prompts to guide you as you pray. You can pair the rug with your smartphone through the Sajdah mobile app and use the app to pre-program the parts of the Quran you want to display during your prayer, control the speed of the prayer, and a whole lot more.

At the moment, prayer guides and Quran verses can be displayed in English and Arabic, but Thakaa Technologies promises to add support for more languages with future updates to Sajdah.

News

Abu Dhabi’s Robot Kitchen Is Serving Up Biryani, Not Burgers

Circus SE wants to put a tiny automated factory inside the buildings where Gulf residents live and work, bypassing part of last-mile delivery.

Published

6 days ago

October 20, 2026

Nour Nasir

abu dhabi's robot kitchen is serving up biryani not burgers

Circus SE

The most telling thing about a new autonomous kitchen now running in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Square is what it won’t cook:

“We don’t do fast food,” says Nikolas Bullwinkel, Founder and CEO of Circus SE. “We’ve actively decided not to build a machine that can only do burgers”.

Instead, the CA-1 system is built around pot-based cooking: curries, pastas, soups and rice dishes. After experimenting with highly personalized recipes, Circus deliberately leaned back toward recognizable food. “We’re going with a chicken biryani because you know it,” Bullwinkel says of the AED 40 dish.

circus se ca-1 robot system

The Germany-based robotics and food technology company operates across eight countries, and Abu Dhabi is its first deployment outside Europe. More locations are expected there and in Dubai.

In Germany, its units can be placed in supermarkets, gas stations, airports and hospitals. In the Gulf, Bullwinkel wants them inside residential and office buildings, replacing some of the complexity of last-mile delivery. “We’re basically bringing a very tiny factory a few square meters into your building,” he says. Catering company Royal Prestige supplies the ingredients and knowledge of local tastes.

The CA-1 manages up to 36 refrigerated ingredient silos alongside automated induction cooking, robotic plating and a self-cleaning dishwasher. Two robotic arms move ingredients through the system with minimal human intervention. It can produce up to 120 hot meals an hour, and a meal such as rice and curry can take around three to four minutes.

Also Read: Ooredoo Qatar’s 5G+ Network Is Built For Machines As Much As People

Five cameras and multiple sensors monitor heat, temperature and consistency, an attempt to approximate what a chef perceives. “You can hear something gets burned, you can smell it, you can see it at some point,” Bullwinkel says. CircusOS, the company’s operating system, adjusts recipes in real time.

You might think of the platform as a threat to kitchen staff, but Bullwinkel frames Circus as a way for chefs to develop recipes and distribute them at scale. With that being said, rising labor costs and shortages are also part of his case for automation.