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

OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health Is A Private Space For Health Data

A new health mode lets the popular AI platform tap medical records and fitness apps while walling off sensitive information.

Published

6 days ago

January 8, 2026

Nour Nasir

OpenAI

OpenAI has created ChatGPT Health, a separate space inside its chatbot platform for handling medical and wellness data. The opt-in feature starts with a small US cohort before widening out.

Health-related questions have long driven traffic to AI tools. OpenAI says over 230 million people ask ChatGPT about health or insurance each week. The new mode adds personal context to that behavior but stops short of diagnosis or treatment advice.

Users can connect records from participating US providers through b.well and link apps such as Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, Function and Weight Watchers. Some links are US-only, while Apple Health needs iOS. Once connected, ChatGPT can surface patterns in labs, summarize information ahead of a clinic visit or help map diet and exercise choices against past data.

The data sits apart from other chat information. Health has its own memories and does not spill into other conversations. Users can view or delete health memories at any time. OpenAI says this material is not used to train its models.

Security is much heavier in this section too. Health adds isolation and purpose-built encryption on top of the platform’s baseline protections. App connections require explicit permission, and disconnecting cuts the feed immediately.

“ChatGPT Health is another step toward turning ChatGPT into a personal super-assistant that can support you with information and tools to achieve your goals across any part of your life,” wrote Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s applications chief.

Also Read: Deliverect Rolls Out Self-Order Kiosks Across MENA

Physicians had input during development, though OpenAI has not detailed how that shaped the end product. The launch follows Health Bench, a dataset released in May to test models on realistic medical cases.

While currently rooted in the US healthcare ecosystem, the approach may draw interest in the Gulf and wider MENA markets as governments push digital health records and patient portals under modernization programs. Adoption will depend on whether users trust an AI assistant with such personal material and whether it fits clinical routines.

For OpenAI, the move marks a cautious step into regulated terrain and signals a shift toward sector-specific uses of generative AI.