On some tombs in Japan, the country that launched the idea, it is now possible to use your smartphone to scan a specific QR code present on the tombstone. What for ? It's simple:access photos and other detailed information, online, about the deceased in question.
It all started with a Japanese tombstone manufacturer who decided to innovate, Ishinokoe. Initially, the company placed QR codes behind small lockable doors on headstones. Subsequently, various designs, some of which exposing the QR code as a real decorative element of the tombstone, appeared.
These codes allow relatives of the deceased to access information and photos concerning them, and even to download their own contributions. Such a "burial feature" is supposed to give people a way to stay "in touch" with the "memory" of their loved ones. A tombstone fed by the family with information and experiences, a bit like a "wiki" of the dead.
QR codes are of course nothing new in Japan and the rest of the world. In Japan for example (and especially), they are regularly used to download road maps from a smartphone, printed on the back of business cards and even on restaurant brochures. But Ishinokoe wants to honor the dead by making his graves not only sad and gloomy places containing the remains of the deceased, but also places where families can access fond memories of when their loved one was alive. /P>
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Friends and family members can use their mobile phones to upload photos, poems, stories and a whole host of information, which will then be accessible to others authorized to read the code.
It is also possible, for people with the authorization, to consult the list of all the people who have already visited the tomb and accessed the QR code. If you are not on the list after attending a funeral, then don't expect to receive a thank you card from the pockets of the deceased...
QR code headstones are already on sale, although they are not given away. Indeed, the purchase of such a somewhat techy tombstone would cost you around 8000 Euros.
