D o blessings exist in the metaverse? That’s a question that Adnan Maqbool has posed to many people. He’s the project director at Labbaik VR, a Pa

This Hajj VR simulator helps Muslims prepare for the holy pilgrimage

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2024-10-18 16:30:03

D o blessings exist in the metaverse? That’s a question that Adnan Maqbool has posed to many people. He’s the project director at Labbaik VR, a Pakistani company that has created the world’s first virtual reality simulator for Hajj and Umrah — the pilgrimage that Muslims take to Mecca and Medina. “Mostly, people’s reaction to that is no, that’s not possible,” Maqbool told Rest of World. “My next question is, when you hear recitations of the Quran on TV, is hearing them a blessing or not a blessing? If that is, then why not this?”

Labbaik’s VR simulator, developed over the course of five years, offers users a 360-degree view of some of the most holy sites in Mecca and Medina. It’s created using 80,000 ultrahigh-resolution photographs, making it possible to see even the smallest details, like the carvings on the pillars.

Labbaik first launched its product in 2019, with the goal of training first-time pilgrims and offering people the chance to view holy sites virtually. After meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Hajj and Umrah ministry, they developed virtual guided walks, and began to offer VR training sessions for potential pilgrims in 2021. “The ministry said the biggest problem they faced [was] people who were traveling there for the first time, usually from developing countries, for whom navigating the journey was difficult,” said Maqbool.