Ir Achmad Holil Noor Ali MKom during the presentation of the development of the app Mecca WABot into the mobile application MeccaBot to launch the worship of the congregation of Hajj and umroh

ITS Campus, ITS News — Ready to help Hajj and Umrah congregations in worship, a team from the Digital Innovation Study Program under the Information Systems Department of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) introduced the development of an application called MeccaBot, Thursday (30/5). The app was launched after a refinement of the previous innovation, Mecca WABot becoming the MeccaBot mobile application.

The leader of the Ir Achmad team Holil Noor Ali MKom informed that the completion of this application is based on some input of the Mecca WABot users who were previously only via the WhatsApp (WA) bot. The MeccaBot mobile application is already integrated with the Ministry of Religion Rebuplic Indonesia, so prayer at worship is addressed to all groups. “Because before many users from different groups and prayer is different, so we integrate in this mobile application,” Holil explained.

Holil adds that the MeccaBot app is finally able to respond to congregation searches that are often lost during worship. In this app now can be a marker of the starting point of the congregation only with selfie that can be accessed through the bot, so they do not have to get lost when they want to go back to the original place. “This photo can later be re-visible congregations and can be selected whenever they wish to return to the place,” said the Head of Digital Innovation ITS.

MeccaBot app developer team simulating location navigation feature for Hajj and Umrah congregations

Not only that, MeccaBot can now also be accessed in English, making it possible for international Hajj and Umrah pilgrims to also access and utilize this application technology. “Because previously in Mecca WA Bot was only available for Indonesian, now we are developing it so that pilgrims around the world can use it too,” he added.

According to Holil, there are also more features in the MeccaBot application. Among them are the umrah guide feature with the development of the location of public transportation stops in Mecca, the practice feature that can be done during worship, the location of pilgrimage sites, the footsteps of the Prophet, areas and hotels, souvenirs, travel routes, and many more.

Although this application has finally made a lot of development, MeccaBot can still be accessed without taking up a lot of storage space. The storage size of this application will only be 50 megabytes. “Because this application is intended to facilitate worship for all people, we don’t want just because their storage space on their cellphones is limited, so they have difficulty accessing it,” he said.

Fathia Rahmanisa Dzakiyyarani (right) and Kahfin Ilham trying out the MeccaBot app simulation.This MeccaBot application is now in the verification stage of release on the Playstore platform. When this application is later released, then at that time all Hajj and Umrah pilgrims around the world can download and use this application directly. “We want all pilgrims to be able to use this application while worshiping, and can provide suggestions in the column available in the application for our future evaluation,” said Holil.

The application development team led by Holil consists of ITS Information Systems Department students Luthfi Hakim Irawan, Fathia Rahmanisa Dzakiyyarani, Hanny, and Kahfin Ilham, as well as ITS Information Systems Department lecturer Rizal Risnanda Hutama SKom MKom. The team has managed to get ITS incubator funds to develop the application into a startup company. “We will maximize this fund for wider application development,” concluded Holil optimistically. (ITS PR)

Reporter: Nabila Rahadatul Aisy Koestriyaningrum