中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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I-Fairy, a four-foot tall seated robot with flashing eyes and plastic pigtails, directs a wedding ceremony for groom TomohiroShibata 42, and bride Satoko Inouye, 36, at a Tokyo restaurant Sunday, May 16, 2010.(Agencies) |
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Almost everyone stood when the bride walked down the aisle in her white gown, but not the wedding conductor, because she was bolted to her chair. The nuptials at this ceremony were led by "I-Fairy," a 4-foot (1.5-meter) tall seated robot with flashing eyes and plastic pigtails. Sunday's wedding was the first time a marriage had been led by a robot, according to manufacturer Kokoro Co. "Please lift the bride's veil," the robot said in a tinny voice, waving its arms in the air as the newlyweds kissed in front of about 50 guests. The wedding took place at a restaurant in Hibiya Park in central Tokyo, where the I-Fairy wore a wreath of flowers and directed a rooftop ceremony. Wires led out from beneath it to a black curtain a few feet away, where a man crouched and clicked commands into a computer. Japan has one of the most advanced robotics industries in the world, with the government actively supporting the field for future growth. Industrial models in factories are now standard, but recently Japanese companies are making a push to inject robots into everyday life. Honda makes a walking child-shaped robot, and other firms have developed them to entertain the elderly or play baseball. Kokoro, whose corporate goal is to "touch the hearts of the people," also makes giant dinosaur robots for exhibitions and lifelike android models that can smile and laugh. The company is a subsidiary of Sanrio Co., which owns the rights to Hello Kitty and other Japanese characters. "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," said bride Satoko Inoue, 36, who works at manufacturer Kokoro. The I-Fairy sells for about 6.3 million yen ($68,000) and three are in use in Singapore, the US and Japan, according to company spokeswoman Kayako Kido. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
當(dāng)新娘身穿潔白的婚紗走過長廊，幾乎所有人都站了起來，唯獨(dú)婚禮司儀例外，因?yàn)椤八北还潭ㄔ诹怂淖紊稀?/p> 上周日的這場婚禮由一個名叫“愛精靈”的坐式機(jī)器人主持。這個機(jī)器人身高4英尺（1.5米）、眼睛閃閃發(fā)光，梳著塑料辮子。據(jù)這款機(jī)器人的制造商Kokoro公司介紹，機(jī)器人主持婚禮在世界上還是首次。 在當(dāng)天的婚禮上，“愛精靈”用細(xì)小的聲音說：“請為新娘掀開面紗”。當(dāng)新郎新娘在約50名賓客面前親吻時，“愛精靈”還揮舞起雙手。 這場婚禮在東京中部日比谷公園的一家餐廳的屋頂上舉行。“愛精靈”頭戴花環(huán)，幫助新人完成了儀式。距機(jī)器人幾英尺遠(yuǎn)處有一個黑簾子，簾子后面是一臺與機(jī)器人身體相連的電腦，有人在此通過電腦發(fā)布指令。 由于政府大力支持該領(lǐng)域以應(yīng)對未來發(fā)展，日本的機(jī)器人產(chǎn)業(yè)一直處于世界領(lǐng)先水平。應(yīng)用于工廠的工業(yè)機(jī)器人目前已經(jīng)非常規(guī)范，而最近日本公司正在推進(jìn)機(jī)器人在日常生活中的使用。 本田公司開發(fā)了一種可以行走的兒童型機(jī)器人，其它公司還開發(fā)出了幫老年人解悶和會打棒球的機(jī)器人。以“觸動人心”為宗旨的Kokoro公司曾研制出供展覽的大型恐龍機(jī)器人，以及會微笑和大笑的仿真機(jī)器人。Kokoro公司隸屬于三麗鷗公司，該公司旗下有Hello Kitty和其它一些日本卡通人物形象等文化品牌。 任職于Kokoro公司的36歲的新娘井上聰子說：“讓機(jī)器人來主持婚禮真的很有意思。我覺得日本人有一種把機(jī)器人看作人類朋友的強(qiáng)烈意識。在機(jī)器人領(lǐng)域工作的人都十分理解這一點(diǎn)，但人們主要還是想讓身邊的機(jī)器人為他們做些事情。” 據(jù)Kokoro公司女發(fā)言人木戶加代子介紹，每部“愛精靈”售價約630萬日元（6.8萬美元），目前有三部分別在新加坡、美國和日本供使用。 相關(guān)閱讀 （中國日報網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯蔡姍姍） |
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Vocabulary: wedding conductor:婚禮司儀 android：機(jī)器人 subsidiary：company whose voting stock is more than 50% controlled by another company, usually referred to as the parent company（附屬公司，子公司） |
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