Internet Communication Beyond the Barrier of Death: Messaging with the Lost Ones

Internet-based communication has transformed the way we stay in contact with family and friends who live remotely from us. Death puts such communication to an end and leaves us with just static data of our past interactions, such as pictures, chat protocols, video recordings, and letters. In this article, Martin Hepp describes how available computer technology could keep up the illusion of communicating with people beyond the barrier of death, and to continue to learn from them--how they lived, the places they've been to, the people they met, and how they would deal with our present challenges. In essence, such technology could reinforce and revitalize memories of a common past.