Eva the photography robot shoots her first professional wedding gig

Image: Service Robots (via Bride Magazine) (Image credit: via Bride Magazine)

The news that robots are coming for our jobs has been making the rounds for a few years now. And while automation is definitely taking over our lives, many of us have nothing to fear... unless you're a wedding photographer, maybe?

UK-based company Service Robots has droids for hire or purchase, and one of those is a photographer robot called Eva. The humanoid robot uses facial recognition technology to identify people before asking them if they would like to have their picture taken.

Eva was launched earlier in 2019 but not until April 7 did she get to officially shoot her first wedding, when she was hired by Gary and Megan Barker to capture memories from their big day.

"This was a fantastic addition to our day and our guests are still talking about it," Gary, the groom, told Bride Magazine. "Eva went down a treat and really got people involved. It made a nice change from the normal photo booths."

Mingling with the crowd

Eva is equipped with an interactive color screen in front of her humanoid body. Guests can choose from a variety of photography options before Eva goes click-happy.

When Eva is hired, Service Robots sets up a printing station at the venue, so images can be printed out instantly. If the guests prefer to not take a keepsake home, the images can be uploaded to a social media platform of the guest's choice, provided an internet connection is available at the venue.

A spokesperson for Service Robots told Bride Magazine that, "People are less interested in traditional photo booths. They are looking for something new and memorable that will really make their event stand out. None of the guests at this wedding will ever forget their first encounter with a robot photographer and it will provide the happy couple with a lovely reminder of their special day."

In any case, we don't see Eva giving flesh-and-blood professional photographers any competition... at least not yet. After all, she is essentially a fun version of a photo booth or selfie station, one that can easily upstage the couple on their very special day.

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[Via Bride Magazine]

While she's happiest with a camera in her hand, Sharmishta's main priority is being TechRadar's APAC Managing Editor, looking after the day-to-day functioning of the Australian, New Zealand and Singapore editions of the site, steering everything from news and reviews to ecommerce content like deals and coupon codes. While she loves reviewing cameras and lenses when she can, she's also an avid reader and has become quite the expert on ereaders and E Ink writing tablets, having appeared on Singaporean radio to talk about these underrated devices. Other than her duties at TechRadar, she's also the Managing Editor of the Australian edition of Digital Camera World, and writes for Tom's Guide and T3.