Unlock the future of memorialising your loved ones: Cemetery tech brings amazing possibilities but you must be WARNED
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For many of us, visiting a loved one's grave is a deeply personal, comforting experience.
By visiting the gravesite of our loved ones, we can take time to be with them and remember all that we shared.
Traditionally, gravesites feature a plaque, where family and loved ones gather around to remember those that they've lost.
However, with the advancement of technology, this traditional form of memorialisation has started to change.
In recent years, some companies have started to develop an alternative form of memorialisation for gravesites – called 'smart plaques'. These plaques are digital, and link to an online site commemorating the deceased, allowing family and friends to share memories and experiences with the deceased virtually.
However, despite the advantages, those interested in exploring this form of memorialisation are being warned to proceed with caution.
To help us understand this better, Emma McGregor, who works for a company that creates memorial plaques for graves, gave us her own experience navigating this new technology.
With 22 years of experience working in this business, Emma told us how she and her family coped after the sudden and unexpected passing of her beloved brother Matthew.
'We had the old photo albums and we would look through those to reflect on Matthew,' she said.
'Back then, there was no technology around memorialisation at all.'
But, in the absence of digital memory-preserving technology at the time, she never could have expected how her brother’s memory - and the many others who have sadly passed - would live on with digital technology now making remembering our deceased loved ones easier than ever.
Now, as the manager of a company providing memorial plaques for deceased loved ones, Emma can explore the latest in cemetery technology by looking at so-called 'smart plaques', which can link to an online site commemorating the deceased.
'I thought, you know, it’s a great tool that will enable family and friends to be able to share memories and experiences about Matthew that we can reflect on at a time that we feel that we need to,' she shared.
Thanks to her company now providing both smart and traditional plaques, Emma can enjoy the small moment of solace that comes with the technology.
But does that mean that setting up a smart plaque can inadvertently make the process of grieving harder?
'It makes you miss him even more. But I think over time, it actually helps,' Emma says.
It’s a sentiment that Emma’s mother shares too - especially in the absence of being able to physically visit her son’s grave site due to the 2020 and 2021 COVID lockdowns.
'She sat at his grave site and she wrote a little piece [online] to say how much she misses him,' Emma says.
New Cemetery Technology May Evoke Mixed Feelings
Finding a way to remember them as significant and integral parts of your lives can be an important part of the healing process, but sometimes it’s hard to decide how best to honour their legacy.
Thankfully though, it seems technology is here to help us out of our grief-induced slumps.
Grave-site registers, self-navigating cemetery apps and even QR codes installed on gravestones – yes, you read that right, QR codes – are some of the innovations being implemented to help families and friends memorialise the dead in a meaningful and respectful way.
Still, such advanced technology being applied to cemeteries is a brand-new concept and one that provokes mixed feelings among those who've encountered it.
University of Melbourne research fellow Fraser Allison, who specialises in the unique relationships between death and technology, believes that these kinds of technological improvements are still in their early stages of development and implementation.
One such graveyard tech spread across Europe is the fully digital gravestone.
'It has interactive screens and as you walk up, it can give you a video about a person's life,' Allison explained.
Privacy and respect are two major issues when it comes to advancing cemetery tech, according to Allison's research. Most people generally agree to techs that are 'quiet' and 'don't interfere with existing rituals and practices'.
While Allison advocates for cemetery technologies being employed sensitively and respectfully, some products – such as augmented reality versions of the dead – can be considered inappropriate by some people who are grieving.
And it’s easy to see why – the idea of a digitally-altered recreation of a deceased person's moments can be unsettling.
'For some people, it seems like an attempt to bring the dead back to life,' states Allison.
Of course, many appreciate these opportunities to create 'new memories' of someone who has passed away, provided the tech is used respectfully.
Risks from the New Technology
But while experts are supportive of new graveyard technologies and the potential they have to benefit families, they pointed out the potential implications of these digitised offerings which make it important for us to exercise caution.
Bec Lyons, end-of-life doula and independent funeral director, said that she found the modern trends in memorialising the deceased 'brilliant'.
She remarked: 'I see the potential for families [and] generations to come, where they can have a beautiful way to experience the life of their person or their ancestor who's died.'
However, Bec raised the prospect of security risks and potential emotional distress that a digital format might bring to bereaved families, as well as the financial burden it might lay onto mourners.
'Who has access? What happens if the family is estranged in any way? What happens if the person who's died has been a victim of some kind of abuse? Who has access to photos of them?' she questioned.
She also raised the additional financial burden that grieving families could incur if they implement these new technologies in their deceased loved ones' graves.
'We run the risk of making it complicated. I think the purpose of going to a cemetery is to spend time thinking about your death and the legacies that they've left you and who you are because of the lives they forged,' she added.
Members, while the introduction of technology into death and funeral services has the potential to open up interesting new ways of memorialising the dead and remembering their lives, it's also important to remember that at the centre of all these technological advancements is the emotional and mental state of the families.
We must approach any new developments with the utmost caution, being mindful of the potential risks and implications.
How do you feel about the introduction of technology into death care services? Is it something that you think should be embraced, or something that should be kept out of the industry? Let us know in the comments below.
By visiting the gravesite of our loved ones, we can take time to be with them and remember all that we shared.
Traditionally, gravesites feature a plaque, where family and loved ones gather around to remember those that they've lost.
However, with the advancement of technology, this traditional form of memorialisation has started to change.
In recent years, some companies have started to develop an alternative form of memorialisation for gravesites – called 'smart plaques'. These plaques are digital, and link to an online site commemorating the deceased, allowing family and friends to share memories and experiences with the deceased virtually.
However, despite the advantages, those interested in exploring this form of memorialisation are being warned to proceed with caution.
New technologies are being introduced to memorialise the deceased. Credit: Pexels/Mike B.
To help us understand this better, Emma McGregor, who works for a company that creates memorial plaques for graves, gave us her own experience navigating this new technology.
With 22 years of experience working in this business, Emma told us how she and her family coped after the sudden and unexpected passing of her beloved brother Matthew.
'We had the old photo albums and we would look through those to reflect on Matthew,' she said.
'Back then, there was no technology around memorialisation at all.'
But, in the absence of digital memory-preserving technology at the time, she never could have expected how her brother’s memory - and the many others who have sadly passed - would live on with digital technology now making remembering our deceased loved ones easier than ever.
Now, as the manager of a company providing memorial plaques for deceased loved ones, Emma can explore the latest in cemetery technology by looking at so-called 'smart plaques', which can link to an online site commemorating the deceased.
'I thought, you know, it’s a great tool that will enable family and friends to be able to share memories and experiences about Matthew that we can reflect on at a time that we feel that we need to,' she shared.
Thanks to her company now providing both smart and traditional plaques, Emma can enjoy the small moment of solace that comes with the technology.
But does that mean that setting up a smart plaque can inadvertently make the process of grieving harder?
'It makes you miss him even more. But I think over time, it actually helps,' Emma says.
It’s a sentiment that Emma’s mother shares too - especially in the absence of being able to physically visit her son’s grave site due to the 2020 and 2021 COVID lockdowns.
'She sat at his grave site and she wrote a little piece [online] to say how much she misses him,' Emma says.
New Cemetery Technology May Evoke Mixed Feelings
Finding a way to remember them as significant and integral parts of your lives can be an important part of the healing process, but sometimes it’s hard to decide how best to honour their legacy.
Thankfully though, it seems technology is here to help us out of our grief-induced slumps.
Grave-site registers, self-navigating cemetery apps and even QR codes installed on gravestones – yes, you read that right, QR codes – are some of the innovations being implemented to help families and friends memorialise the dead in a meaningful and respectful way.
Augmented reality and other innovations to digitally alter the 'memories' of the deceased may evoke mixed reactions in people. Credit: Pexels/Ali Pazani.
Still, such advanced technology being applied to cemeteries is a brand-new concept and one that provokes mixed feelings among those who've encountered it.
University of Melbourne research fellow Fraser Allison, who specialises in the unique relationships between death and technology, believes that these kinds of technological improvements are still in their early stages of development and implementation.
One such graveyard tech spread across Europe is the fully digital gravestone.
'It has interactive screens and as you walk up, it can give you a video about a person's life,' Allison explained.
Privacy and respect are two major issues when it comes to advancing cemetery tech, according to Allison's research. Most people generally agree to techs that are 'quiet' and 'don't interfere with existing rituals and practices'.
While Allison advocates for cemetery technologies being employed sensitively and respectfully, some products – such as augmented reality versions of the dead – can be considered inappropriate by some people who are grieving.
And it’s easy to see why – the idea of a digitally-altered recreation of a deceased person's moments can be unsettling.
'For some people, it seems like an attempt to bring the dead back to life,' states Allison.
Of course, many appreciate these opportunities to create 'new memories' of someone who has passed away, provided the tech is used respectfully.
Risks from the New Technology
But while experts are supportive of new graveyard technologies and the potential they have to benefit families, they pointed out the potential implications of these digitised offerings which make it important for us to exercise caution.
Bec Lyons, end-of-life doula and independent funeral director, said that she found the modern trends in memorialising the deceased 'brilliant'.
She remarked: 'I see the potential for families [and] generations to come, where they can have a beautiful way to experience the life of their person or their ancestor who's died.'
However, Bec raised the prospect of security risks and potential emotional distress that a digital format might bring to bereaved families, as well as the financial burden it might lay onto mourners.
'Who has access? What happens if the family is estranged in any way? What happens if the person who's died has been a victim of some kind of abuse? Who has access to photos of them?' she questioned.
She also raised the additional financial burden that grieving families could incur if they implement these new technologies in their deceased loved ones' graves.
'We run the risk of making it complicated. I think the purpose of going to a cemetery is to spend time thinking about your death and the legacies that they've left you and who you are because of the lives they forged,' she added.
Members, while the introduction of technology into death and funeral services has the potential to open up interesting new ways of memorialising the dead and remembering their lives, it's also important to remember that at the centre of all these technological advancements is the emotional and mental state of the families.
We must approach any new developments with the utmost caution, being mindful of the potential risks and implications.
How do you feel about the introduction of technology into death care services? Is it something that you think should be embraced, or something that should be kept out of the industry? Let us know in the comments below.
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