What can you do to stay informed about digital immortality, digital legacy, digital life curation, and all things #Deathtech?Being ahead in this changing marketplace and cultural transformation could help you spot trends and find opportunities to promote and grow your end-of-life or funeral business.Welcome to The Art of Memorialising - an audio newsletter by Peter Billingham from Death Goes Digital and Memorable Words Eulogy Writing services.The Art of Memorialising curates news on digital immortality, digital legacy, digital life curation and all things #Deathtech.Thanks for being here.What Will You Find In This Issue?* How ‘Digital Heritage’ storytelling keeps our lost loved one close.* When technology and entertainment collide, do you get - ‘Upload?’* How using 30 4K cameras could immortalise your grandpa. Photo by Jessica Lewis on UnsplashAnd They All Lived Happily Ever After In Virtual Reality. Or Did They?‘In the end, we’ll all become stories.’ Margaret Atwood.Once upon a time. That’s how most stories start.And they all lived happily ever after. Perhaps they don’t always end that way. Margaret Atwood was spot on - we all become a story someone will tell. Increasingly, however, there will be a choice for who tells the tale of a life. Let me explain. In this edition of The Art of Memorialising, we look at how telling the story of your life as you live it, and after you have died, is undergoing transformational change. Why?The rise of AI avatars will allow you to see your grandparents, parents and other loved ones telling their own life stories long after they have died, speaking directly to you through VR immersive experiences. Imagine now being able to ‘see and hear’ your grandpa walking around the towns he lived in, the places he went on holiday and locations where he worked? Hear him say, ‘Come with me. Let me show you where your grandpa proposed to your grandma!’The transformational change in creating personal biographies and memoirs will keep our loved ones and their memories alive in ways we haven’t experienced before. But is a good thing? Is the adage of, ‘A time to be born and a time to die’ no longer needed? Will your dwelling in digital immortality be helpful to those still mortally alive? I started Death Goes Digital in 2016. Then discussions and thoughts of ‘Digital Legacy’ focused on, ‘What happens to your Facebook account after you die?’ The concerns mainly on what will happen to the online traces of your life, your bank accounts and social media profiles, etc., after death. That hasn’t changed, but there is now much more. While protecting our digital estate when we are dead is important, what is far more fascinating is what is revolutionising culture around biography and memoir writing. How we can choose to tell and remember the story of our lives while we are living? So what’s happening?I see developing the growth of a ‘digital heritage.’ It’s a term being used in Japan. I like it more than, ‘Are you protecting your digital assets when you’re dead?’ A ‘Digital Heritage’ sounds creative, proactive and inspiring choices to leave more than just the password of mobile phone behind. Writing several eulogies each week constantly reminds me life ends often before it gets to the ‘happily ever after’ part. Yet, each life is full of special moments, sometimes missed, often forgotten. Remembering to gather and record those special elements of the story of a life inspired me to write the book - Gathering Rosebuds In Kerala. Published this month, my book is a memoir about a birthday trip I took to India. But more than that, it’s a reflection on ageing, and how we might remember the story of our life. A workbook for noticing and capturing those special moments in life and storing them forever. What will be the story you tell about your life? Who and how will that story be told in the generations to come? Will it be you as a 3D hologram, an AI avatar, or even a ‘Versona?’ Read on, see what you think, and let me know. I’d love to hear what you think. Please let me know. Email info@deathgoesdigital.comStartup SpotlightsHeard of a startup in digital life curation or #Deathtech?Please let me know. Email info@deathgoesdigital.comMM’s (Memorialisation Morsels) 5 meaty bites of news for YOU to stay ahead of the conversation on Digital Legacy, Digital Life Curation & all things #Deathtech.1 - Will Cybernetic Immortality Lead To Living Happily Ever After?Science fiction becoming reality is not a surprise. Tasers, defibrillators, mobile phones, and 3D holograms captured our curiosity in books, films and tv long before they became commonplace in culture. When developing science and technology becomes entertainment, it gives us clues for forecasting the future. Could ‘Upload,’ the new Amazon Prime series, be such an example? Set in 2033, Nathan Brown, a computer programmer, dies when his self-driving car ...
