Artist Proposes Small Robots with 3D-Printed Faces of Dead Relatives (koaa.com) 55
"In Japan, a robot may create a new way to mourn," reports one Colorado news team:
This robot is supposed to sound like a loved one. Now imagine the same robot having a 3D-printed mask of their face. You will be able to stay with that robot for 49 days which is the period of mourning after the funeral in Japan. That is the concept of Digital Shaman project, which uses a humanoid.
Users will have an interview with the artist while they're alive. Their physical characteristics and messages will be recorded then. After the user dies, the bereaved ones will be able to install the program into the robot. It mimics the deceased one's personality, speech, and gestures. The robot can imitate hand and head movements the person was making during the interview.... As unreal as it may seem, the artist is planning to sell digital shaman to the public in the future.
People may wonder if the creator is planning to allow the deceased to live forever through the program. She's not. "I think it will seriously hinder those left behind to move on." We live in a digital world. And now a robot has brought together "IT technology" and "Death".
It's part of a larger research project on Japanese funeral rites, and one of a series of works on "digital shamanism" that "attempt to blend Japanese folk beliefs with technology."
An artist's statement calls it "a new mode of mourning in keeping with the technical advances of today."
Users will have an interview with the artist while they're alive. Their physical characteristics and messages will be recorded then. After the user dies, the bereaved ones will be able to install the program into the robot. It mimics the deceased one's personality, speech, and gestures. The robot can imitate hand and head movements the person was making during the interview.... As unreal as it may seem, the artist is planning to sell digital shaman to the public in the future.
People may wonder if the creator is planning to allow the deceased to live forever through the program. She's not. "I think it will seriously hinder those left behind to move on." We live in a digital world. And now a robot has brought together "IT technology" and "Death".
It's part of a larger research project on Japanese funeral rites, and one of a series of works on "digital shamanism" that "attempt to blend Japanese folk beliefs with technology."
An artist's statement calls it "a new mode of mourning in keeping with the technical advances of today."
Re: Weird Obsession, comes from loneliness (Score:1)
Kids are shit. They scream and holler and run around all the time.
Re: (Score:1)
Yeah, well, I can hear the snarling robot now: You're a good for nuthin loser! You don't get a dime! I gave it all to the children's library HAHAHAHAAA
Just wait until they get arms and legs and start chasing you around the house with a knife, yelling, Where did you hide my dentures?! Who stole my hat?! Where are the broads?? I need a drink!
Please, tell me about the screaming and hollering. At least a kid will remember who you are.
Re: (Score:1)
Okay, then (Score:5, Insightful)
‘An artist's statement calls it "a new mode of mourning in keeping with the technical advances of today.”’
I call it just plain creepy.
Oh nice, and next ... (Score:1)
... revived heads in glass jars that can talk?
Uncanny Valley (Score:3)
It's thought that the uncanny valley appears to creep people out because the figure resembles a corpse. In this case, the robot INTENTIONALLY resembles a corpse.
There's a reason it was a Japanese person that came up with the concept of the 'uncanny valley'...
Personally, I want a digital assistant that has the voice and personality of a target deceased person. I'll call it... 'virtual necromancy'.
Re: Uncanny Valley (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
I'd be ok with that, provided it was in a psychiatric ward to deal with their obviously disturbed minds and to rehabilitate them to the point where they were fit to live in society.
This is clearly creepy AF, but it is kind of genius. You can get used to your loved one's face belonging to a robot instead of them.
What need does this fill ? (Score:2)
We've already had paintings and photos of our loved ones for a couple centuries. We can easily create audio & video keepsakes. How is this better? If we really want an animated freak show, I think a hologram would be more innovative. My Mexican neighbors can put the face of a departed loved one on a pinata and beat the crap out of it. (We sometimes have some animosity toward our closest relatives.)
Re: (Score:2)
We've already had paintings and photos of our loved ones for a couple centuries.
I think that's what's really messing with my head about this. I see rationally why it could be an technological extension of stuff we've always done, but my intuition is screaming that this is the opposite of mourning, it's avoiding dealing with the reality of death and can't possibly be healthy psychologically. (Maybe in a few cases it could help as a transitional measure but not generally.)
Will it have a build in Fleshlight? (Score:1)
I _really_ want to honour my wife's memory, if you know what I'm saying.
Re: (Score:2)
Make a special custom doll request to RealDoll?
Reanimation (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
If Hollywood has taught me anything, it is that bringing the dead back to life is a very bad idea!
But they're NOT dead. This is version 2.0. Everyone in Hollywood KNOWS that the sequel release is much better than the original, that's why they make so many of them. This'll be FIIIINE......
Besides, now you can even talk back to them like you never could in life since they can't change their will (.....YET.)
Re: (Score:2)
Only if my beloved's corpse-robot is made by James Cameron. He made lots of great sequels about trustworthy robots, so it'll be fine.
Re: Reanimation (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The exact link I was going to post... hmph.
Max Headroom predicts the future again!
Let it go (Score:2)
Warrior's Wish: "When I am dead, cry for me a little. Think of me sometimes, but not too much. It is not good for you to dwell too long. Think of me now and again as I was in life, at some moment which is pleasant to recall, but not for long. Leave me in peace as I shall leave you, too, in peace."
I cannot imagine that this proposed device would help healing in any way. As long as we are temporal creatures, death is something we have to deal with in a healthy and productive way, and IMO, this ain't it.
YMMV.
C
And then? (Score:2)
You will be able to stay with that robot for 49 days which is the period of mourning after the funeral in Japan.
After which, you get a doll that looks like the robot and you can stay with that for 49 days while you mourn the loss of your robot ... After which ...
I'm not sure how this is a good idea. Now you'll have memories of your relative and the robot mimicking your relative mixed together at a very emotional time and I can't imagine that being a good thing on the long run. Perhaps if you have things you needed to say, but didn't have the chance to, this would give you your audience, but I know from experience
Be Right Back (Score:2)
Black Mirror covers this exact scenario in Be Right Back. Did this guy steal the idea from there?
Re: (Score:2)
My alternative (Score:2)
Bobblehead Dolls. Easier to make and probably more realistic /s