Again, we have gone back to what we have earlier said about robots preparing to take over your homes. They have taken it further in Japan by taking over worshiping places as there are already Buddhist robots that are replacing priests.
Their functions, for now, is not to lay hands on people or to even preach for them, rather, these Buddhist robots serve to provide funeral services at cheaper prices than what is naturally obtainable with human priests.
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The Buddhist robots are Pepper bots, created by SoftBank Group. They stand 4ft tall with moving limbs, artificial intelligence, and affable futuristic face. And they have been invented because having funerals performed by priests in the country is very expensive.
The robot which has come to be known as Pepper monk was designed by a Kagawa-based company called Nissei Eco. It is dressed in traditional robes and garments and is saddled with the responsibility of chanting Buddhist mantras and reciting sutras. These are normally the duties performed by priests who are hired to perform initiative rites for deceased people to help save cost for the families.
So why will people go for Buddhist robots instead of real priests? Because it can save them real big money. While priests take over a million yen which has been placed at over £7,000, pepper is willing to accept only around 50,000 yen (£350) to perform the service.
More so, people have come to accept the cheap services of the robot Buddha priest because people are no longer donating to families to fund funerals. Hence the fee is getting extravagantly high on families.
One good feature with pepper is that it comes with a touch screen that can help families to retrieve the urns of their loved ones at any time to pay their respect.
Before pepper is turned into a Buddhist priest, the robot has been popular around the world for so many things including selling things and caring for the sick. In fact, it has been said to be the first bot to understand human emotions.
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Probably that is why it is able to provide such services much cheaper.
It has been estimated that around the world today, there are as much as 10000 of these robots all of which are designed for different specific and definitely crazy and surprising purposes.
