{"39691":{"#nid":"39691","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Sun Dial Uses Mobile Phones to Alert Muslims to Prayer","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EReligious technology may seem like an oxymoron, but as more people obtain mobile phones, iPhones and other devices to help them manage their lives, it\u0027s only natural that many of them will be using their gadgets to help them enrich their spiritual life as well. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a mobile application known as Sun Dial, which alerts Muslim users when it\u0027s time to perform the five daily prayers known as salat. The device is currently being discussed this week at the human-computer interaction conference, CHI, in Boston.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have to understand religion because it\u0027s such a central part of peoples lives,\u0022 explained Susan Wyche, doctoral candidate in the College of Computing and GVU Center at Georgia Tech.\u003Cbr \/\u003E Designing technological devices for religious use may be very different from designing devices for traditional uses in office settings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Efficiency and productivity tend to be driving forces when designing technology for offices, but these are not as central when designing applications for the home or religious settings. Why would you design a device that makes someone pray faster?,\u0022 said Wyche.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWyche, along with her research team, chose to focus on Islam for this study, partially because of the religion\u0027s popularity worldwide and partially because Muslims have historically used technology such as compasses and telescopes to help them determine the direction to face during prayer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with seven focus groups, they determined that the greatest interest from the participants lay in prompting them when it was time to pray - not by using text, which some commercial applications use, but through imagery combined with audible alerts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESun Dial tells users that the time to pray is approaching by using an image of the sun lining up with a green circle. When the sun lines up with the circle, it\u0027s time to pray.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Unlike similar systems, ours relies on graphics rather than text and graphs to communicate prayer times. Users drove this choice by telling us that tracking the sun was the most religiously valued method to determine prayer times.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWyche and colleagues tested their application with Muslims from Georgia Tech and the greater Atlanta area for two weeks with favorable reaction. They\u0027re currently working on implementing a few design changes such as a digital clock and a vibration alert. Eventually, they plan on making the application available for download.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Sun Dial provided more than functionality or a prompt to the prayer times; it also contributed to users\u0027 religious experience by reminding them they were part of a larger community. More broadly, carefully considering imagery is important when developing mobile phone applications, particularly ones that support personal and emotional activities, which may be sacred or secular.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research team was comprised of Associate Professor Beki Grinter, along with doctoral candidates Kelly Caine, Benjamin Davison and Michael Arteaga.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a mobile application known as Sun Dial, which alerts Muslim users when it\u0027s time to perform the five daily prayers known as salat.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Application is being shown at CHI conference in Boston"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2009-04-02 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:25","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-04-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-04-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"39692":{"id":"39692","type":"image","title":"Sun Dial","body":null,"created":"1449174110","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:21:50","changed":"1475894258","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:37:38","alt":"Sun Dial","file":{"fid":"189662","name":"tlt99117.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tlt99117.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tlt99117.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":264165,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tlt99117.jpg?itok=B1cE4iS3"}}},"media_ids":["39692"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~spwyche\/","title":"Susan Wyche"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~beki\/Beki.html","title":"Beki Grinter"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1027","name":"chi"},{"id":"1024","name":"dial"},{"id":"1028","name":"grinter"},{"id":"1025","name":"muslim"},{"id":"170776","name":"sun"},{"id":"1026","name":"wyche"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}