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The
Pobrezje cemetery on the outskirts of Maribor, Slovenia's second
largest city, recently set up a prototype of a weather-proof and
vandal-proof digital tombstone that can interact with visitors.
At first glance, it looks like any other but standing in front
of it for a few seconds activates its sensors and brings it to
life, turning it into an interactive screen capable of playing
just about any kind of digital content.
"This tombstone makes it possible to put anything next to the
deceased person's name and surname, you can write an entire
novel if you like. You can put pictures, or a film there," Saso
Radovanovic, head of the company Bioenergija which sells the
tombstones, told Reuters.
"The tombstone has a sensor so that when nobody is around it
only shows the person's name and the years of their birth and
death... This saves energy and the screen itself, and helps
extend the tombstone's lifetime," he added.
The tombstone was developed with the help of Milan Zorman, a
professor of computing at the University of Maribor who said
that they are working on a special smartphone application, which
will further increase the tombstone's interactivity.
"We intend to bring the sound to earphones connected to a mobile
phone running the app. That way visitors would be able to listen
to videos displayed on the screen," said Zorman, adding that
speakers would be too loud for the cemetery.
The cemetery claims the 48-inch-screen version they put up is
the first digital tombstone in the world. Radovanovic said they
have already received a few orders for the product which costs
3,000 euros ($3,189).
(Reporting by Gasper Lubej, writing by Marja Novak; Editing by
Toby Davis)
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