Janine Mosley - BTMM 4446 - 5/13/10
READING SUMMARY: Telepresence after Death
Lombard, M., & Selverian, M. E. (2008). Telepresence after death. Presence: Teleoperators and
Virtual Environments, 17 (3), 310-325.
Death is ironically a part of life that unites the people of the world. It is something we all will experience and feel the effects of at some point in time during our lifetime. As such a major and unavoidable aspect of our beings, our reaction to and subsequent feelings after the loss of life are what have prompted studies in immortality, reincarnation, and life after death. Even with all of the various cultures of the world and vast number of religious beliefs and philosophical theories, there is a definite chord that runs through them all which is a need to somehow maintain a closeness or intimacy with the departed.
Throughout history there has been a human yearning to continue to bond with loved ones even after death. Some believe this can benefit those on earth during the grieving process and also possibly benefit them as the deceased may somehow be able to intervene for them or support them in the supernatural realm. Experiencing a relationship with the deceased has been done by dreams, visiting the gravesite, and speaking with the deceased in dreams. It has also been performed by mediums, clairvoyants, and psychics. These kinds of experiences have been debated for years, however the use of psychics to communicate with the dead is still widely practiced and many people believe in it.
Though quite “normal” or expected in America, the funeral is not just a time to pay one’s last respects to the deceased, it is also a way of immortalizing the dead and using technology to somehow make the person appear still “there.” The technology used allows the deceased to

appear life-like and present and not just as a dead corpse. Taxidermy is even used when some pet owners would like to preserve the body of their pets forever. Surprisingly, with its success and common use with pets, this has yet to be practiced with humans.
Continuing this train of thought gravesite markers and epitaphs are also considered technology used to evoke the deceased. There are also sound and memory devices that can be attached to the gravesite marker playing the deceased’s voice, music and/or displaying photographs of them. This further evokes the notion of keeping the dead in touch with the living or being “there” and not in some immortal place away from their loved ones. A recording of the deceased’s voice creates presence. More traditional methods of maintaining closeness with the dead are pictures, statues, paintings, and other art. These preserve the memory of the deceased and allow the loved ones to continuously repeat precious memories of times the deceased was alive. There is the thought that as long as you remember someone they are not dead – the memory keeps them alive forever and connected to their loved ones.
Newer technologies like the internet are used to preserve the memory of the deceased.
There are websites designed specifically to memorialize the dead. It is convenient for people to upload audio and visual content, make donations, and purchase virtual flowers as well as view the gravesite via webcam. These keep the memory alive and current. Just as these can assist in keeping the memory of a person alive, there are also a few websites that enable viewing of inside the casket after being buried. Watching the body decay is disturbing to many, but can be thought of as a way of maintaining a kind of intimacy with a deceased loved one.
The thought of make-up, embalming fluid, grave markers and such being considered technology is a different train of thought for me. The typical thoughts about technology evoke pictures of televisions, radios, pictures, movie theaters, headsets, books, museums and things of

that nature. It is challenging to consider the future of immortalization. There is the thought of holograms of the deceased at the gravesite or other places meaningful to the person. In that same vain there have already been androids made of prominent (and rich) individuals after their passing.
Possibly even with all of the technology used to maintain closeness with the dead, what could be most important is the nature of the relationship with the dead. This is especially important in how open one can be to experiencing presence of the deceased, which also points to the ultimate question when discussing telepresence in general: Can one deny or avoid telepresence or is it subconsciously automatic? Keeping with the topic of death, there is also the question of ethics. To what extent does preserving a memory remain ethical? Is there a line that can be crossed where it is no longer ethical? These are questions each of us must answer within ourselves and determine what we desire. Is it more important to keep the memory alive and “beat death” with technology or should we accept death as it is… whatever it is?
This article was extremely interesting and informative in regards to presence and death. It was extremely easy to read and understand. I have watched my brother and grandfather take their last breath and the experience left me not only desiring to keep their memory alive but also experiencing telepresence via memorial services, visiting their gravesite and dreaming they were speaking with me from the grave. I had never considered any of those experiences as presence but clearly see this is exactly what they were. Although I miss both my brother and grandfather, I feel it is essential to feel the sting of death and loss. It is unhealthy, in my opinion to treat their memory or corpse as a live being because it removes the truest sense of reality from the entire life process. Death hurts and isn’t easy to deal with, but it is an aspect of life we all will have to face.