Saudis use AI, drones and thousands of cameras to keep Hajj pilgrims safe

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In front of day and night maps, screens and seemingly non -existent data, Saudi officials have used artificial intelligence to help handle millions of pilgrims during Hajj.

This technology has proved important to track huge amounts of footage from the holy city of Makkah and more than 15,000 cameras around it.

This system is designed to see unusual mobility movement or to predict the barriers to feet traffic.

The software is also used to help guide more than 20,000 buses deployed to transport pilgrims to sacred places during one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings.

It is all part of the tech weapons that Saudi Arabia is deploying 1.4 million loyalists from around the world and around the world.

“In our traffic control room, we use special cameras that include AI layers to analyze mobilization, crowded areas,” said Mohammad Nazir, chief executive officer of the Royal Commission for Mecca.

The center has a central control room full of screens and maps, where staff uses high -tech tools, including AI to monitor 24 hours.

Nearly a dozen staff members sit in line before desktop computers, with a large display in the front section, zooming on the mobility of the crowd around the holy places.

On the surrounding hills, cameras that are similar to small white robot movies, roads and routes, which run more than 20 km between Mecca and Mount Arafat (12 miles).

The purpose of permanent surveillance is to stop the traffic collision with pedestrians on the mob, while also ensuring that buses are available to minimize the time of the desert heat, Nazir said.

‘Our sight on the ground’

This is a decade when Hajj suffered its worst catastrophe, a fugitive that killed 2,300 people during the “Satan’s stone” ritual.

In 2006, 1998 and 1994, hundreds of people also died in the stamps.

In 1990, when the tunnel ventilation system failed, 1,426 pilgrims were killed or stabbed to death.

With its advanced technology, “the control room is our eyes on the ground,” said Muhammad al -Karni, who oversees Hajj and Umrah Ziarat throughout the year at the center of transport and transportation.

He told AFP that artificial intelligence helps determine the “flowing roads leading to sacred places), and detects them before detecting an emergency,” he added, adding that the technology can help to evaluate the number of people at one place.

Camera and AI can be estimated that if a site has reached maximum capacity, authorities are allowed to divert the flow of pilgrims, Qarni said.

This system was seen during the holy month of Ramadan, when the Grand Mosque reached full potential, this system was seen.

“The flow of the Haram (Grand Mosque) was stopped and the process was controlled,” he said.

Thermal imaging

The use of advanced technology is beyond logistics, which has also been traced to unregistered pilgrims, who have participated in the most of the 1,301 deaths in the civilling conditions last year.

Since the temperature increased to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125.2 Fahrenheit) last year, unauthorized worshipers who lack access to air -conditioned tents and buses. The temperature forecast this week is up to 40C.

Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, should complete at least once with sources.

Yet not everyone is able to secure or tolerate any of the official permits, which is allocated to the countries through quota and given to the people through the lottery.

This year, a raft of camera -equipped drones is monitoring the entrance routes in Mecca to prevent anyone from sticking.

Lieutenant General Mohammed bin Abdullah Al -Basami, the Director General of Public Security, “We use artificial intelligence and other tools such as drones and thermal imaging cameras.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Special Forces for the protection of roads said it was using “smart thermal imaging” to monitor the boundaries of Mecca and holy sites.