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Designing for Death: Emerging Technologies for the Process of Dying and the Memorialization of Life

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HCI International 2023 Posters (HCII 2023)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1832))

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Abstract

Death is an inevitable part of life. But the manner in which we mourn death and memorialize life, both in terms of the promise of our own death, and the inevitable death of others, offers designers and artists an opportunity to creatively reimagine the ways emerging technologies might open up new possibilities for understanding and coping with this essential part of life. Our design research begins with a historical critique of various religious and philosophical traditions related to death and dying. This foundation frames our inquiry, as we apply design research methods to better understand how experts working in hospice and the cemetery industry prepare experiences for death and mourning. Drawing on these insights we present a prototype that demonstrates new modalities for memorializing those who have passed through auditory media eventually proposing future work based on these initial prototypes utilizing a mixed reality experience.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    Asad Khan, Sunzhe Yang & Ian Gonsher

  2. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Asad Khan, Sunzhe Yang & Ian Gonsher

Authors
  1. Asad Khan
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  2. Sunzhe Yang
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  3. Ian Gonsher
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ian Gonsher .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Constantine Stephanidis

  2. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Margherita Antona

  3. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Stavroula Ntoa

  4. University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Gavriel Salvendy

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Khan, A., Yang, S., Gonsher, I. (2023). Designing for Death: Emerging Technologies for the Process of Dying and the Memorialization of Life. In: Stephanidis, C., Antona, M., Ntoa, S., Salvendy, G. (eds) HCI International 2023 Posters. HCII 2023. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1832. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35989-7_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35989-7_10

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