Satoko Inoue and Tomohiro Shibata were recently wed by I-Fairy, a four-foot tall pigtailed robot made by Sanrio subsidiary Kokoro. The I-Fairy, which costs ~$70,000, was the first robot to ever conduct a wedding. Is this cute or creepy?
Ms. Inoue works for Kokoro, an offshoot of Hello Kitty makers Sanrio. She had this much to say about her robotic wedding conductor:
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.
We wish the couple all the best, but nonetheless, the I-Fairy is somewhat unnerving in action. Is Kokoro trying to tap into the 21st century Humbert Humbert demographic?
[Via Guardian UK. Photograph via Yuriko Nakao/Reuters.]
