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In the historic Kodaiji temple in Kyoto, Japan, the teachings of Buddhism are transmitted by a different priest, not made of flesh and blood, but made of aluminum and silicone.
Mindar is a robot 1.93 meters tall and weighing 60 kilograms that delivers sermons on the Heart Sutra, one of the best-known Buddhist scriptures. Humanized by his human face, hand gestures and the look of two cameras in the eyes that interact with the public, Mindar was created in 2019 of a millionaire project —about 956,200 euros— between the Kodaiji temple and a team from the University of Osaka.
The goal, according to ABC News, is for the most humane design to break the barrier between the “spiritual world, where Buddha exists, and the physical world, where Buddha materializes through Mindar”explained its creators, quoted by the North American channel.
“Design in Mindar is to foster people’s imagination. The Buddha statue has a similar design, it’s hard to tell the gender and age,” said Hiroshi Ishiguro, Mindar’s design manager.
Accompanying the robot-priest lectures is a 3D map projection, where a preprogrammed presentation questions Mindar about the teachings of Buddhism. Although Mindar’s abilities are limited to quote scheduled audiosthe temple plans to implement artificial intelligence in Mindar so that it “accumulates unlimited knowledge and speaks autonomously”.
In Japan, about two-thirds of the population practices Buddhism. “Before listening to Mindar’s sermons, people see him as a robot. But later they came to see him as a Buddha,” said temple leader Tensho Goto.
Source: Observadora
