Cai hui bin A0084292 B The practice of death memorialization can be traced back to 35, 000 B.C.

1 Regardless of nations, religions or cultures, remembering our loved ones after their death has always been part of the ritual. Yet, across time, the way this ritual is carried out evolves in accordance to available technology. Designer psychologist Michele Gauler seeks to create a physical artifact that stores digital data of the deceased. In his work titled "Digital Remains" 2, Gauler proposes for the digital information of an (deceased) individual to be stored in a personalized data-storage artifact (also known as the access key) that has a bluetooth function. Whenever the bluetooth radar is connected to the living user's digital device (smartphone or laptop), the living user gains access to digital data stored in the physical artifact. The physical artifact then acts as an object in remembrance of the deceased. Beyond its function as an object of remembrance, however, this piece of artwork may come across further to encourage communication between the user and the object, just like how Paola Antonelli propose in her curatorial statement3 for the Talk To Me exhibition 2011. She establishes that things talk to us, and that there exist relationships between people and things. " Things may communicate with people, but designers write the initial script that lets us develop and improvise the dialogue". This is exactly illustrated by Gauler's work, whereby the script refers to the physical artifact designed by the artist, and the user creates the dialogue when the relationship factor comes to play. Upon the death of an individual, he leaves behind his copy of Digital Remains for his loved ones. Over time as his loved ones interact with this physical artifact, the artifact becomes meaningful as they develop a relationship with it just like how they did with the physical body of the deceased prior to his death. In this way, there is transference of relationship from one with the deceased to one with the artifact. Antonelli brought up a critical perspective whereby in the technologically inspired era when so many mediums and channels are available, the trick to an effective and elegant communication is choosing the right one. Gaulers work attempts to incorporate the bluetooth technology with the death memorial process. Using this technology, the user is able to transcend time and space boundaries to
Veale, Kylie. "FCJ-014 Online Memorialisation: The Web As A Collective Memorial Landscape For Remembering The Dead." The Fibreculture Journal 3 (2004): 7.
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Gauler, Michele. MoMA|Talk To Me. 2011. http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/talktome/objects/140018/ (accessed September 12, 2012).
2

Antonelli, Paola. MoMA|Talk To Me. 2011. http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/talktome/essay/ (accessed September 12, 2012).
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Cai hui bin A0084292 B connect with his loved one. Though it might seem just as simple as that, in my opinion, this work represents more than just connecting with a loved one via technology. Beyond its superficial function, it also looks into the relationship between the tangibility of objects and the sense of ownership with the object. Digital Remains is a symbolic representative and functions as a physical tool for the user to connect with the deceased individual. This work presumes the desire for the living to connect and prolong relationships with the dead in a way that is suitable in the current digital context. With the platform for this connection, this illuminates the continuing presence of the deceased, though non-physical. This aspect of Gaulers work prompted an understanding of the concept of digital immortality, and questions the eternity of relationships does the continuing digital presence of a deceased play a role in maintaining previously established relationships? Synthesizing from Antonellis critical perspective about the medium of communication and the role of digital immortality in relationships, I adopt the following judgment in Gaulers work. Although online memorial sites have already been designed to conduct death memorial practices, Gauler chooses to establish a connection between the living and the dead using a physical artifact with Bluetooth function as a medium of communication. In choosing this medium over others, the tangible quality of this work promotes a greater sense of ownership whereas the digital immortality aspect maintains continuity of the previously formed relationship. In Gordon Bell and Jim Grays article4, digital immortality can be discussed in two dimensions one-way and two-way immortality. The one-way immortality allows the preservation and transmission of data, enabling communication with the future. More dynamically, the two-way immortality allows ones experiences to be digitally preserved, and then take on a life of its own, ultimately being learnable and evolvable when communicating with the future. This functions in conveying ideas for the future generation, and also explores the potential of building a personal archive storing all the digital data for which an individual has lived. This individual will then be immortal in terms of the media they have encountered. Similar to Gaulers Digital Remains, the idea of digital immortality presented by Bell and Gray propose a platform to allow future communications via the preservation of data. Yet, one difference is the second dimension that Bell and Gray introduced the two-way immortality, which has an adaptive function and learning ability, allowing dynamic and changing interaction between user and data, giving it a life of its own.

Gordon Bell, Jim Gray. Digital Immortality. Microsoft Research, Microsoft Corporation, San Francisco: Communications of the ACM, 2000.
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Cai hui bin A0084292 B There are, however, problems with this proposal. It seems like the two-way immortality illustrated by the authors provide a good method to maintain previously formed relationships due to its interactivity and adaptability. Yet, although this article is in the form of a technical report presenting the possibility of future communications, the authors fail to address the technical methods in executing this idea, i.e. how does it materialize. Ideas were brief and does not explore possible ways of execution nor provide any examples to which supports the idea. Without presenting the technical potential of the idea, the article becomes less convincing. Besides, even though the authors identified various limitations to their ideas, the range of the limitations identified is narrow and underdeveloped. Lastly, this article is not well supported due to the limited range of references. More importantly, out of 8 sources of references, 3 of them came from the previous works of Bell. This questions the validity and agreeability of claims made. The article presented a well-defined concept of digital immortality and a possibility of future communications. However, the over-simplicity of ideas needs to be clarified and more intensive research should be done to support the authors claims.

Cai hui bin A0084292 B

Bibliography
Antonelli, Paola. MoMA|Talk To Me. 2011. http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/talktome/essay/ (accessed September 12, 2012). Gauler, Michele. MoMA|Talk To Me. 2011. http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/talktome/objects/140018/ (accessed September 12, 2012). Gordon Bell, Jim Gray. Digital Immortality. Microsoft Research, Microsoft Corporation, San Francisco: Communications of the ACM, 2000. Veale, Kylie. "FCJ-014 Online Memorialisation: The Web As A Collective Memorial Landscape For Remembering The Dead." The Fibreculture Journal 3 (2004): 7.