Sacred Imagery in Techno-Spiritual Design Susan P. Wyche Kelly E. Caine Benjamin K. Davison Shwetak N. Patel* Michael Arteaga Rebecce E. Grinter *Presently at the University of Washington

ICTs are widely used to support religious practices. However, little is known about how to appropriately design applications that support “techno-spiritual practices” (Bell, 2006).

Islamic Prayer: Salat Prayers are performed 5 times a day . Times are based on the worshippers geographic location and the sun’s position in the sky . Muslims told us they used paper prayer charts to prompt them to prayers. Raka’ahs Paper Prayer Charts

Prayers are performed 5 times a day .

Times are based on the worshippers geographic location and the sun’s position in the sky .

Muslims told us they used paper prayer charts to prompt them to prayers.

Nature

Nature

Nature

Mosques

Mosques

Evaluating Sun Dial Real world deployment 10 Muslims (6 men and 4 women; all Sunni) We interviewed participants prior to the deployment. During our weeklong evaluation, participants had 35 potential engagements with the system. At the end of the week, we conducted semi-structured interviews with participants.

Real world deployment

10 Muslims (6 men and 4 women; all Sunni)

We interviewed participants prior to the deployment.

During our weeklong evaluation, participants had 35 potential engagements with the system.

At the end of the week, we conducted semi-structured interviews with participants.

Findings

Findings The phone reminded me of how I should keep track of prayer times and follow the natural progression of the sun , which I don’t do, I let mechanical devices [referring to his watch and computer] do it… – 38 year old male Findings

… a lot of people in the U.S., we wish we could be in the Middle East or in a country that had more of this [referring to mosque], especially for me, since I became Muslim in the U.S., I have never lived in the Middle East . –24 year old male Findings

This [Sun Dial] evokes that image of what a mosque should be…it is almost like a gentle reminder…it is like a small sign,I have Islamic art at home, when I look at it I am less likely to swear or do something stupid in front of it. –24 year old male

This [Sun Dial] evokes that image of what a mosque should be…it is almost like a gentle reminder…it is like a small sign,I have Islamic art at home, when I look at it I am less likely to swear or do something stupid in front of it. –24 year old male

Sun Dial provided more than functionality or a prompt to the prayer times; it also contributed to users’ religious experience . Sacred Imagery and Techno-Spiritual Design

Acknowledgements/ Questions? I am grateful to participants for sharing their stories and my collaborators: Kelly Caine, Ben Davison, Shwetak Patel, and Michael Arteaga. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Intel Research Council. Thank you Beki Grinter, anonymous reviewers, and Genevieve Bell.