JAPANESE COUPLE WEDDED BY ROBOT

TOKYO COUPLE MARRIED BY HUMANOID ROBOT
WHICH ACTS AS WITNESS AT WEDDING CEREMONY

BEIJING (Xinhuanet) - A Japanese couple was wedded by a robot “priest” in Tokyo on Sunday, the first time a wedding presided over by a robot. A humanoid robot named “I-Fairy” acts as a witness at the wedding ceremony between Tomohiro Shibata and Satoko Inoue in Tokyo May 16, 2010. The couple decided to use the robot, which conducted the ceremony with its audio functions, from Inoue's company to perform the witness' duties as they first met due to common work interest related to robots. I-Fairy, a 1.5-meter tall robot with flashing eyes and plastic pigtails, saw the wedding of Tomohiro Shibata and Satoko Inoue in a restaurant in Tokyo. At I-Fairy's instructions, the groom lifted the bride's veil and kissed her in front of 50 guests. The couple both worked in the robotics industry and has known each other through a robot project. Therefore they chose to be wedded by a robot. Since robots had brought them together in the first place, they said, having one officiate at their wedding was a natural choice.

“This was a lot of fun. I think that Japanese have a strong sense that robots are our friends. Those in the robot industry mostly understand this, but people mainly want robots near them that serve some purpose,” 36-year-old bride Satoko Inoue was quoted as saying to AP. The automated creature, known as the I-Fairy, oversaw the wedding of Tomohiro Shibata and Satoko Inoue in the capital, Tokyo. I-Fairy was originally designed to be used as a replacement public speaker. During the ceremony, I-Fairy - which has flashing eyes and plastic pigtails - instructed the groom to lift the bride's veil for the kiss. The wedding took part in a rooftop restaurant in the Japanese capital.

Here you can wath a video of this unusual ceremony

Technology and Love are becoming more united. Cupid lives on social networks and you can find your online girlfriend or boyfriend. But now, the latest development is that a robot conducts your marriage ceremony. The value of the sanctity of a marriage under a spiritual guidance is not appreciated in modern society.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Another symptom of Kali-yuga: dāmpatye 'bhirucir hetur ... “Marriages will be arranged according to temporary affection ... ” (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.2.3) The relationship between husband and wife will depend on “abhirucih”, their liking each other. ... No one ever knows what the future of the girl and boy will be. ... formerly, in India, marriage took place only after an astrological calculation of past, present, and future had determined whether the couple would be happy in their life together. When marriage is thus sanctified, the man and the woman live peacefully and practice spiritual culture. Each one helps the other, so they live very happily and become advanced in spiritual life. And at last they go back home, back to Godhead. That is the system.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Journey of Self-Discovery”
VI: “Material Problems, Spiritual Solutions”