It looks like Pepper – a companionship robot developed in 2014 by Aldebaran Robotics and SoftBank – may be assuming an unexpected role at some point in the future: that of the “touji”, or “officiating monk”, in order to chant Buddhist sutras at Japanese funeral services.
This function was demonstrated on August 23, 2017, at the eerily named Life Ending Industry Expo, a trade show in Tokyo focusing on funerary services and technologies.
At the show, Nissei Eco Co., a plastic molding maker, demonstrated a software they’d developed for the Pepper robot that allowed it to beat a rhythm on a “mokugyo” (a ceremonial wooden drum shaped like a fish) and chant a sutra aloud.
Pepper robot chants Buddhist sutra at Endex 2017 in Japan [RAW VIDEO]