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For many people who’ve lost a loved one, a visit to their grave can help them to grieve. Now German mourners could remember those who have died in a different, modern way with a digital tombstone. Michel Kurney Spelt is a gardener in this cemetery in western Germany, where his aunt is buried.
“I was looking for a wood tombstone on the internet, and then came across this digital one. I thought it was a great idea, something modern and new which I am always hoping to. ”
It could almost be seen as the graveyard answer to the social networking phenomenon. The battery-operated monitor can display slide shows, or pictures of the deceased person, their relatives or anything which is important to them while alive. Kurney says this digital tombstone is met with approval, especially for the cemetery's younger visitors. The idea for a new kind of memorial to a dead comes from the Netherland, and an inventive approach carpenter Carton Glasses is about to producing them. The monitor is protected from the elements by this wooden lid. So far, Glasses has made four of these tombstones to order and is working on two more. The tombstone costs around 5000 Euros, almost 6,500 US Dollars. But Glasses says people are getting used to the idea.
“With tombstones, it's not like we are selling coffee machines. They have to be in demand for what we are offering. People won't just buy because they think it is a good product. I have to say the feedback is very positive. ”
But there is a limit to how high-tech these tombstones are. They will play music on the deceased person's voice as Glasses is making noise is against German cemetery regulations.
John Patries, Reuters.