Cemetery 2.0 is a concept that links burial plots to online repositories of information about the deceased. Information is connected to the physical resting place so that visitors may access the surviving artifacts of that person. This project is a wonderful way to make use of technology to extend the memory of loved ones.
It would be interesting to take this one step further and add the ability for visitors to contribute their own collective memories of the deceased as artifacts. In this way those who were close to the person have the opportunity to contribute to memory or their loved one and explore facets of that person’s life from the perspective of others – by reading or listening to stories, or viewing images visitors leave behind. I guess this would essentially transform the grave site into a place for social interaction. Maybe, one day, the association of cemeteries as creepy desolate tracts of land will no longer hold true.
Birth and death are two of the most significant events in everyone’s life, which makes me wonder why we shove obituaries into the middle of the newspaper where they can be conveniently passed over. Each of those announcements should be front page news!
I can’t help but agree… put obituaries on the front page. Bring on the death! Death forever. Long live death.