An exploration into the future of memorialisation using emerging technologies
FINDINGS
PHASE 1
- all participants felt memorialisation was important.
- participants share the belief that it helps our grieving process and mental health.
- personal to the individual with regards to the method used.
- majority of participants would use a photographic approach for an accurate depiction of the dead.
- participants said that they’d want to remember somebody in a happy moment which can be viewed in a photo.
- photographs seen to portray the personality of a person e.g. in comparison to a gravestone.
- a sense of the extreme sentimental value surrounding photos in order to remember the face with the fear of forgetting the persons appearance.
- consideration of photo manipulation as a negative.
- connection of memories with personal items of the deceased, viewing these as more personal than something created after the person has died.
- the face is considered to be an important aspect of memorialisation.
- argument that in the UK, we don't see the face of the deceased e.g. closed casket at funeral. Argued that this is because we don't want our last memory of that person to be their corpse.
- beliefs that being able to see the person's face helps the grieving process and brings comfort.
- argument that the face isn’t always necessary to the end of the grieving process, when people would remember quirks of people and things they did over their appearance.
- awareness of the environmental impact of graveyards which is seen as unsustainable.
- thoughts that the future would be more digital, some agreed that this would be a positive step but some disagreed on the basis of this potentially slowing down the grieving process.
- some insight into the possibilities of future memorialisation with things such as artificial intelligence and digital gravestones.
- our society within the UK and Western Culture have a denial of death and don’t speak about it as much as we need to.
- concern that if all memorialisation goes digital, it’ll lose a personal factor. But can also be seen as a positive step in addressing the taboo around death in our society.
- concerns of inaccuracy of digital remains in reference to social media. It was believed that what we publish online is tailored and is therefore not an accurate representation.
- a lot of the emerging technology is seen as inaccessible, but people are aware of the fact that it may become more accessible in the future.
KEY QUOTES
“its important for everyone to cherish their own memories in their own way”
“A lot of objects hold a lot of memories and a lot of connotations”
“I think the personal nature of memorialisation may go away a bit with how everyone wants to share everything online”
“what’s the point of living to not be remembered in some sort of way”
“it can be used as a coping mechanism for those who are still living to cherish the memories that they once had with the person who is now deceased”
“as a society, we can’t keep up with constantly having graves and constantly forking out money for a place where you can put a graveyard”
“in the in the UK, speaking about death with your friends or your family or anything, we don't really talk about it, it's one of those things that happens, and then you sort of deal with it”
“I don’t want to be forgotten 20 years after I die because there’s no memorial of me”
“I think technology is going to play a much bigger piece but it needs to get through that taboo that surrounds death”
“When you think about a memory, you think about that face, so I think the face is quite an important thing when remembering people like in a photo or something”
“Do we really need to see a face to remember the person anymore? Not necessarily because after a while, I think in the grieving process you start to think more about things like their voice or their personality and heir small quirks rather than simply how they looked because you’re no longer seeing them every day”
“Society has become more digital now with so many people online and on social media. Memorialisation is maybe steering in that direction too”
“I suppose a lot of people are very sensitive and want to keep it to themselves. But maybe that’s a framework we need to get out of, maybe its important to talk about it to help the grieving process aswell”
FINDINGS
PHASE 2
- mixed response to the emerging technology, ranging from amazement and excitement to people disagreeing or feeling uneasy.
- people felt worried about the development of this technology and how it would affect people.
- views of the technology as beneficial, but also noted points of negativity such as vandalism of the digital gravestones and the technology prolonging the grieving process.
- points made of people’s mental health with the concept that they would not accept the death of the person as they would still be somewhat alive.
- a lot of people were not impressed with the autoethnographic examples shown in regard to the accuracy of depicting me.
- consideration of religion and cultures made in regard to the acceptance within society.
- question of the accessibility and expense to this technology.
- many people would not use this technology, making the point that it is not quite there yet in a way to accurately depict someone, but they may use it in the future if the technology improves.
- questioning of whether the technology would be misused which poses ethical issues.
- generational issues with the technology, claiming that an older generation would not accept it. Either because it can be viewed as scary or people they are not as technologically advanced as other generations.
KEY QUOTES
“ I like the idea of technology forming more of a part of the future and having additional things to remember someone and to keep a connection with someone after they’ve died”
“it opens up more avenues for mental health issues or depression”
“I don’t think the technology is there yet to make an accurate depiction of someone, but I think its close. I don’t think it’ll take too long.”
“There’s something quite, not terrifying but more worrying about how fast technology is advancing”
“I think it's open then to like misuse depending on the people that have access to it”
“I think the idea of things like this probably is a lot better than the actual reality of it”
“society will accept these technologies as they become more widely recognised or people become more familiar with it. We’ll become more desensitised to the shock factor of it.”
“then its now to come to a different dimension when death isn’t final anymore”
“Its difficult to get your head around that someone that had died would be there in some sort of capacity”
“like I didn’t really know that there was that many options out there.”
“It does make you feel a bit worried about how keeping someone’s memory alive in such a physical sense might have quite a big impact in terms of the grieving process.”
“think there are dangers of getting stuck in the denial part of grief because of trying so hard to keep that person alive, it would be quite difficult for some people to come to terms with the fact that it is not the person, it’s a way of remembering them and not bringing them back.”
“There’s nothing better that really captures a person than your memory of them”
“The My Heritage app, I wouldn’t even consider it as a memorialisation tool, its more of a gimmick”
“Black Mirror sort of demonstrate how people aren’t following the grieving process, and although it’s not real, I think there’s some truth to it.”
“I’m a firm believer that the dead should be left in a memory”
“People are quite set in their ways with how you remember people and how you try and carry those memories on.”
“I think they’re a good movement towards us tackling the taboo around death and loss”
LIMITATIONS
- Due to the small time frame available, only a small number of participants were able to take part.
- COVID-19 restrictions required project to take place solely online to make consideration of participants safety and comfort.
- completing the project online affected the desired result of the website with lack of video and standardised photos of participants.
NEXT STEPS
- continue to look into subject area to fill gap in research.
- with a larger time scale, more participants will be involved, resulting in more varied findings.
- a bigger number of participants would allow a larger range of ages to discover if the belief of generational issues is true.
- exhibit autoethnographic examples of technology to a wider audience as an insight into what the future may look like.
- create a piece of artwork incorporating emerging technology into a public installation to engage the public and society.
- aim to encourage the discussion of death in an effort to dampen the taboo of the topic.
- collaborate with the immersive arts team at LJMU to create a digital artwork to a professional standard.
IS DIGITAL MEMORIALISATION THE FUTURE?
What's your answer?
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