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{{orphan|date=March 2009}}
A '''Video-Enhanced Grave Marker''' ('''VEGM''') is a Western-style [[headstone|tombstone]] equipped with [[Weatherization|weatherproofed]] [[video]] playback that can be initiated by [[remote control]].
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A '''Video-Enhanced Grave Marker''' ('''VEGM''') is a Western-style [[headstone|tombstone]] equipped with weatherproofed video playback that would be initiated by [[remote control]]. Through sound and video, VEGMs would, in theory, make visits to [[graveyards]] an interactive experience.  
The VEGM, invented by Robert Barrows of [[San Mateo, California]], would allow its owner to record messages or have the deceased family leave messages to be played to any visitor to the site with a [[remote control]].<ref name=wsj>{{cite news|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/SB111283344036700294|title=Having a Say in Your Epitaph: The Challenge of High-Tech Tombstones|work=[[Wall Street Journal]]|date=7 April 2005|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=US-7089495-B2 - Patent Public Search {{!}} USPTO |url=https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/patents/html/7089495?source=USPAT&requestToken=eyJzdWIiOiJlMWU5MWVmNi1mZWE1LTRiNDUtOGY0MS1jOTliOTE4YTBmOTMiLCJ2ZXIiOiI4OTdjOGJhYy0yMGYzLTQwNzItODY1MS0xMjRjODYyODFhNTEiLCJleHAiOjB9 |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=ppubs.uspto.gov}}</ref> The stones would be equipped with weatherproofed video playback devices plus [[computer storage]] and a [[computer monitor|monitor]] placed within a weather-proofed, hollowed-out headstone. It could also utilize coded card swiping devices like the technology used for hotel room card keys or it can operate on a credit card or coin activated device.<ref name=":0" /> {{As of|2005|alt=As of April 2005}}, Barrows estimated that the costs of the VEGMs might start at about [[US$]]8000.<ref name=wsj/>


This idea is very similar to the 1981 [[science fiction]] short story ''Walpurgisnacht'' by [[Roger Zelazny]], and the forward in the 1983 collection ''[[Unicorn Variations]]'' mentions an unexpected contemporary invention of a 'talking tombstone'. The 2004 film ''[[The Final Cut (2004 film)|The Final Cut]]'' also features a similar idea, video-enhanced tombstones which play recordings extracted from memory chips implanted in the brain of the departed. [[Rudy Rucker]] has discussed a similar idea which he calls "lifeboxes," - devices that record information about people's lives and can carry on conversations after they die.  James Joyce's 1904 novel ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' features Mr. Bloom contemplating an audio-only version of such a gravemarker: <blockquote>
{{US patent|7089495}} was issued on The Video Enhanced Gravemarker on August 8, 2006.<ref name=":0" /> Barrows commented soon after its invention: "I envision being able to walk through a cemetery using a remote control, clicking on graves and what all the people buried there have to say. They can say all the things they didn't have the opportunity or guts to say when they were alive."<ref name=wsj/>
"Besides how could you remember everybody? Eyes, walk, voice. Well, the voice, yes: gramophone. Have a gramophone in every grave or keep it in the house. After dinner on a Sunday. Put on poor old greatgrandfather. Kraahraark! Hellohellohello amawfullyglad kraark awfullygladaseeagain hellohello amawf krpthsth. Remind you of the voice like the photograph reminds you of the face. Otherwise you couldn't remember the face after fifteen years, say."
</blockquote>


The VEGM, invented by [[Robert Barrows]] of [[San Mateo, California]], would allow its owner to record messages to be played to loved ones or to any visitor to the site with a [[remote control]]. The stones would be equipped with weatherproofed video playback and recording devices plus [[Computer storage|memory]] systems and a television monitor placed within a weather-proofed, hollowed-out headstone. {{As of|2005|alt=As of May 2005}}, Barrows  estimated that the costs of the VEGMs might start at about  [[United States dollar|USD$]]8000 to $10,000.
To prevent [[noise pollution]], the audio can also be transmitted to [[wireless headset]]s, made available by the cemetery's office.
 
{{US patent|7089495}} was issued on The Video Enhanced Gravemarker on August 8, 2006. 
Barrows commented soon after its invention: "I envision being able to walk through a cemetery using a remote control, clicking on graves and what all the people buried there have to say. They can say all the things they didn't have the opportunity or guts to say when they were alive."
 
To overcome [[noise pollution]] objections, the audio can also be transmitted to wireless headsets, made available by the cemetery's office. Commenting on the threat from [[thief|thieves]] or [[vandalism|vandal]]s Barrows adds "There are very strict laws against vandalizing tombstones, and if you are going to vandalize a tombstone, you'd better hope there are no such things as ghosts."
 
The issue of censorship would likely be of concern with VEGMs. How high a level of [[free speech]] would be offered to the eventually deceased or [[epitaph]] producer is undecided.


==References==
==References==
* Toronto Star: "Ideas of the Week: Talking Tombstones". Toronto: Torstar Publishing. [[May 8]] [[2005]]
{{reflist}}
 
==External links==
*[http://www.bookofjoe.com/2005/04/dead_cant_dance.html Video Tombstone: Dead Can't Dance &mdash; But They Can Talk]
*[http://www.local6.com/news/4863830/detail.html Company Plans Video-Playing Tombstones]
*[http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1124805949201_120215149/?hub=CanadaAM U.S. firm creating video-playing tombstones]


[[Category:Burial monuments and structures]]
[[Category:Burial monuments and structures]]
[[Category:Headstones]]

Latest revision as of 18:52, 29 September 2026

A Video-Enhanced Grave Marker (VEGM) is a Western-style tombstone equipped with weatherproofed video playback that can be initiated by remote control.

The VEGM, invented by Robert Barrows of San Mateo, California, would allow its owner to record messages or have the deceased family leave messages to be played to any visitor to the site with a remote control.[1][2] The stones would be equipped with weatherproofed video playback devices plus computer storage and a monitor placed within a weather-proofed, hollowed-out headstone. It could also utilize coded card swiping devices like the technology used for hotel room card keys or it can operate on a credit card or coin activated device.[2] Template:As of, Barrows estimated that the costs of the VEGMs might start at about US$8000.[1]

Template:US patent was issued on The Video Enhanced Gravemarker on August 8, 2006.[2] Barrows commented soon after its invention: "I envision being able to walk through a cemetery using a remote control, clicking on graves and what all the people buried there have to say. They can say all the things they didn't have the opportunity or guts to say when they were alive."[1]

To prevent noise pollution, the audio can also be transmitted to wireless headsets, made available by the cemetery's office.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Having a Say in Your Epitaph: The Challenge of High-Tech Tombstones". Wall Street Journal. 7 April 2005. https://online.wsj.com/articles/SB111283344036700294. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "US-7089495-B2 - Patent Public Search | USPTO". https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/patents/html/7089495?source=USPAT&requestToken=eyJzdWIiOiJlMWU5MWVmNi1mZWE1LTRiNDUtOGY0MS1jOTliOTE4YTBmOTMiLCJ2ZXIiOiI4OTdjOGJhYy0yMGYzLTQwNzItODY1MS0xMjRjODYyODFhNTEiLCJleHAiOjB9. 
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