The smartphone friendly barcodes are being used at a growing number of cemeteries as memorials.
A trend using QR codes to help remember loved ones after they have died is making its way across the United States as well as in other countries around the world.
The use of this technology, which is compatible with smartphones and some tablets, is growing quickly.
The reason is that QR codes help to use a very small amount of space in the physical world to provide a nearly limitless amount of space in the digital universe. This is precisely the type of connection that many people find very appealing when memorializing loved ones who are no longer with them.
Adding QR codes to gravestones can provide visitors with far more information than a name and a date.
A growing number of cemeteries across the United States are catching onto this trend. QR codes can be seen on tombstones at Sunnyside Cemetery in Harvey, North Dakota, for example. In fact, there are now entire companies that are built on the concept of being able to use these barcodes to memorialize someone who has died.
A company called Digital Legacys, for example, is providing just that. The idea is that the QR codes are placed on the grave markers so that visitors can use their smartphones to scan them. The devices then resolve to a webpage that has been built around the individual who is buried beneath the marker, including content such as stories, books of condolences for the family, photos, audio files, and even video. It provides an easily accessible way for visitors to learn more about the way that an individual had lived his or her life.
It can also help to better preserve the memory through digital documentation that can be accessed easily through the scanning of QR codes. Many memories about an individual are kept exclusively by certain people that he or she knew. Over time, these can fade away or become distorted before they are shared and passed down. This technique can help to make sure that more of the things that people remember about the individual will not be lost.
