Digital Gravestone Management for Cremated Remains
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional burial methods and cemeteries face challenges in providing a suitable and cost-effective way to manage cremated remains, as they often require perpetual maintenance and physical markers, which can be restrictive and costly, while cremation leaves ashes without a designated location for memorialization.
Innovation Solution
A system using geolocated plots on land with a computer database to store the geographic positions and occupancy status of cremated remains, along with virtual and augmented reality technologies to create digital gravestones that allow families to mark and interact with the interment site, enabling remote access and memorialization without physical markers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional burial methods with physical markers are used, then remains can be permanently interred and marked, but perpetual maintenance and high costs are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy (virtual gravestone) of the physical gravestone functionality. The database stores and displays images of gravestones with deceased information, replicating the memorial function without requiring physical presence or maintenance at the burial site.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical system of gravestones and cemetery maintenance with an electronic/digital system. GPS coordinates mark burial locations, and digital images display deceased information, eliminating the need for physical marker maintenance.
2Loss of information
If physical gravestones and markers are used to mark burial plots, then interment locations can be identified, but cost and maintenance burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses digital images of gravestones as copies of physical markers. These images are stored in a database and displayed on mobile devices, providing location identification and memorial information without requiring physical gravestones at each burial site.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a mobile device and database as intermediaries between the burial location and the person seeking information. The mobile device retrieves and displays gravestone images and deceased information from the database, eliminating the need for direct physical markers at the burial site.
3Adaptability or versatility
If cremated remains are scattered without designated location, then flexibility and cost are improved, but ability to memorialize and locate is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital record (gravestone image with GPS coordinates) that copies the memorial function. Even when remains are scattered without physical markers, the digital gravestone image stored in the database preserves the ability to memorialize and locate the interment site.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by having the deceased or family pre-select and upload a gravestone image before interment. This digital marker is stored in advance in the database, ensuring memorialization capability exists before any scattering or burial occurs.
4Reliability
If cemetery plots are permanently dedicated, then remains can be interred with proper rites, but land use flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transfers the permanence function from physical land dedication to digital records. The database stores gravestone images and GPS coordinates permanently, providing reliable interment records without requiring permanent land dedication or cemetery plot reservations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential function of permanent interment recording from the physical cemetery land context. By using GPS coordinates and digital database storage, it separates the memorialization and location-tracking functions from the need for dedicated cemetery land.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for managing interred remains including using a physical location of the remains and a computer database are disclosed. The systems and methods relate to interacting with the interment site of the remains of a person or animal, including virtual gravestones, memorials consisting of audio and/or visual data, and ways to interact with such data by survivors.