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Robot Buddhist Priest Chants, Drums
The latest job taken by robots - Buddhist priest. In Japan, the average cost of a funeral can exceed £20,000, and human priests take £1,700 of that. Nissei Eco is looking to undercut the market with Pepper, a robot that rents out for just £350 per funeral.
Technovelgy readers are already familiar with Pepper, Your Robot Companion.
Would-be funeral arrangers have the option to deck Pepper out in the robe of a Buddhist monk and can even live-stream the ceremony to those who can’t attend the funeral in person.
My favorite references to the idea of a robotic priest are the Padre booth from Philip K. Dick's 1969 novel Galactic Pot-Healer and the proselytizing robot from Cities in Flight (1951) by James Blish.
Here are three more robot religious leaders:
(Pepper ready to serve)
Pepper’s new code will let it chant sutras in a computerised voice while tapping a drum, providing a cheaper alternative to a human priest to see your loved ones off...
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/19/2017)
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