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tonyPick [blogspot.co.uk] writes:

Atlas Obscura has an article on a robot programmed to perform Buddhist funeral rites [atlasobscura.com].

What’s the hottest new trend in robotics? It might be religion. Hot on the heels of Germany’s Protestant-inspired automated blessing machine, BlessU-2 [atlasobscura.com], a Japanese company has unveiled a smiling automaton programmed to conduct Buddhist funerals.

Unveiled during the annual Life Ending Industry Expo in Tokyo, a funeral industry trade show, the little robot was presented by Nissei Eco Co. as an inexpensive alternative to hiring a flesh-and-blood monk. According to Reuters, the robot, a reprogrammed version of SoftBank Robotics’ “Pepper” model of interactive humanoid automaton, can chant Buddhist sutras and beat a little drum to honor the dead. It can even livestream the service if needed.

Also at Reuters [reuters.com] and The Guardian [theguardian.com].

Youtube has a clip with the robot in action [youtube.com], which may give you nightmares. The robot in question is a reprogrammed SoftBank Robotics Pepper model [softbank.jp]. In related news it turns out Japan has a Life Ending Industry EXPO [www.ifcx.jp].

Once again Philip K Dick is proven right [technovelgy.com].

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