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RosettaStone Communicates With Your Descendants and Aliens From the Grave
RosettaStone, from a company called Objecs, is a granite slab that is equipped with small near-field communication (NFC) to be affixed to your funerary monument of choice. A form of RFID, NFC technology works only at close range -- about an inch or less, to be exact. With it, the RosettaStone passes information about the deceased to properly enabled cell phones (or whatever device our descendants will be using), transmitting photos, a message and a basic biography.
The $225 iPod-sized rock is also inscribed with "life symbols" which convey information about the person without the need for RFID or even a comprehension of earthly languages. These pictographs can identify the deceased as a parent, a husband, a writer, a runner, a Christian, a Muslim, or even a career criminal (illustrated by the silhouette of a man holding onto bars), among plenty of other options.
The NFC technology that allows mourners to access the dead's information by tapping the RosettaStone isn't yet commonplace in the U.S. But, it will likely arrive on cell phones soon, though, but as a key to paying for goods via your handset. [From: Discovery News]
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Comments
31
Subscribe to commentsgolfinkatiekat77Mar 17th 2010 2:10PM
WTF????
Princess SabrinaMar 17th 2010 2:19PM
I like the general concept of this. I've always found old cemetaries to be fascinating, sometimes you stumble across an old headstone, and it would be interesting to see pictures and details about who a person was, rather than just this is their name, they were born and died, the end. This has the potential to be very beneficial to future geneologists.
B L MairMar 17th 2010 2:53PM
Great idea! Think of all the interesting history that would be found on this invention for future generations to learn about. I'm not ready to go, but I want one when I do!
snake plisskenMar 17th 2010 3:03PM
How about installing Disco Dance floors and urinals
LynnMar 17th 2010 6:55PM
Hey Snake....I will take the disco dance floor, please. Oh...forgot, I'm the one that likes that, not the people that would be standing there looking at a headstone!!! Oh well...I guess that is why I have purchased a contract to be cremated. My ashes will be put in a special frame (won't be able to see ashes) and I want a photo of my daughters and I in it. That way, I will always be with them!
snake plisskenMar 17th 2010 3:50PM
You Sir, are a Genius!
Joe Papierz JrMar 17th 2010 4:30PM
The only real time benefit I see to this "invention" (actually a combining of already available devices) is to the seller of cemetary monument stones and the cemetary itself.
cattattac20Mar 17th 2010 4:38PM
Who's kidding who? This will probably sell, but think about it. Electronic devices fail, and do so regularly. How many years into the future are these gadgets going to actually last? One good lightning strike could wipe out the microchips on a hundred graves. Add to that all the other possible causes of failure, such as corosion, deterioration of materials,vibration from nearby traffic.... I have a collectoin of transistor radios fro the 1950's and 60's. Although they all played fin when I nbought them in the 80's, about half of them have degraded in performance or have stopped working altogether. They also have been stored in a dry, heated / air conditioned place,and not outdoors where sealing materials can crack and leak over time.
mark3Mar 18th 2010 3:44AM
That's easy - the electrolytic capacitors have dried, normal aging process, nothing can be done to stop it. But the chips in that store all all silicon and it will take many thousand of years before recrystallization will become a problem.
Arnie DickermanMar 17th 2010 4:45PM
A few years ago I suggested to family and friends that with technology available monuments at gravesites should have an LED screen and adio so that while visiting a grave site of a loved one, a pre-recorded presention (before death obviously) would greet the visitor by the deceased with a memorable message. Seems to becoming a reality.
jkollruss9Mar 17th 2010 5:39PM
No one is this important
ricMar 18th 2010 2:06AM
Loony!!!!
arc23conMar 17th 2010 6:06PM
You know what's coming next don't you?
COMMERCIALS
This dead person brought to you by "........." your place to shop for the best deals.
ClueMar 17th 2010 6:20PM
How about a webcam in the coffin. For those who just can't resist to take a peek. I dunno......not dieing seems to be the best option. =:o)
ClueMar 17th 2010 6:25PM
I dunno.......somehow that just doesn't seem right! But, it IS original!!! :o)
LesMar 17th 2010 6:53PM
This is just a little too creepy for me. My personal opinion is let those that have passed have peace and those left behind heal. A cemetary is a place of peacefulness and stregnth. There are other ways to hear their voice before to be remembered and cherished.
stephenMar 17th 2010 7:30PM
This would be great for halloween.
lilj2345Mar 17th 2010 7:41PM
I swear they got this Idea from a movie....
I guess, I could see this being somewhat interesting. for those people who are scared of being forgotten, and being nothing more than a dusty old name on a stone, other people will only see a few times...
Perhaps showing more realism into the fact that they were actual people, rather than just their name, they were born and they died, the end. but to tell a story about themselves that lives on.
but I can also see how it could be for a lack -of-a-better-word, creepy in being that the dead are dead and to focus more on the living, and let those that have passed on have their peace and those left behind to heal.
Personally I'm for cremation myself being the cost of funerals and such.
At the end to me your really only paying for the headstone, it seems kinda a waste.
its Interesting. Now go scatter me into the wind.
JamesMar 17th 2010 7:46PM
Who will replace the batteries?
~*Jamie & Erik*~Mar 17th 2010 8:03PM
It might be nice, for the moment. What about the future.. talking 100 years or so from now? We won't be here, but decendents of that family member may want to know history of their great great grandfather or something. What if that technology is no longer available? I have a vcr, sure, most still do. Do stores sell vhs tapes any longer? Nope. Why? They came out with better technology - dvds. Like I said, nice for the moment...