Virtual reality used to honour the dead

Expensive burials in Hong Kong have led an entrepreneur to adopt virtual reality technology to celebrate the deceased.

Honouring ancestors is an integral part of Chinese culture, but this can prove to be very expensive with cemetery space in Hong Kong costing up to USD 130,000. To help overcome this financial burden, a startup business called iVeneration has connected the future with the past via virtual reality.

The company, headed by founder Anthony Yau, offers the bereaved the opportunity to create virtual headstones while placing them within an augmented version of Hong Kong’s landscape. The created landscape features moving scenery, such as trees swaying in the wind to make the experience even more life-like. A photo of the deceased is projected onto a virtual headstone with their name emblazoned below.

Aside from the large sums of money the service will save those grieving, the alternative service is also expected to appeal to the eco-conscious. iVeneration features a family account management system displaying smart family trees as part of the architecture, a chatting and notification system, and a 24/7 virtual veneration service.

Virtual reality has opened our minds to the inventive ways technology can change age-old traditions, such as integrating it as part of a game to aid Alzheimer’s research, or working as physical therapy to help the injured rehabilitate at home. How could you integrate VR into your business strategy?