Now robots can tell everyone at your funeral how great you were
While Cicero said “the life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living,” it turns out, robots will suffice. A funeral-overseeing robot made an appearance this week at Tokyo’s premier funeral industry fair, the aptly named Life Ending Industry Expo, according to The Guardian. The robot was a Pepper model from SoftBank, programmed with all the rites of a traditional Buddhist funeral. In theory, it will help a family cut costs associated with traditional funerals.
SoftBank created the robot, but its plastic molding maker, Nissei Eco, apparently envisions a future where we are all ushered into the afterlife by robots, and it’s making Pepper’s services available for just $448. Considering that Japanese funerals tend to run about $25,000, according to The Guardian, that’s a bargain. Plus, she can probably play your 16-hour funeral playlist of “Forever Young” and “So Alive” on a loop.
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