FUTURE CEMETERY - Technology and Death | REACT | Watershed
Channel: Watershed
Date: 02/02/2016

FUTURE CEMETERY - Technology and Death | REACT | Watershed
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What does the future hold for death, dying, and remembrance? And how can technology impact how we think about our own mortality? Collaborative project Future Cemetery aimed to find out by combining digital technologies and creative writing to reanimate a Victorian cemetery in Bristol. 

In 2012, the Grade I listed Victorian Arnos Vale Cemetery got together with the University of Bath’s Centre For Death and Society, learning and production agency Calling the Shots and Clear Design UK, as part of REACT's Heritage Sandbox Programme. The idea was to deliver a large-scale project that experimented with projection, augmented reality and Bluetooth soundscapes to connect visitors with the stunning but sensitive space of the Arnos Vale Cemetery. This short film about the project shows how visitors to the cemetery were encouraged to think about the future of death and dying through connecting with actors, installations and interactive sessions (like creating your own epitaph for your tombstone!).

Since the Future Cemetery project was completed, the partners have been collaborating on further market research and technology ventures, including the production of a bespoke smart phone app and augmented reality trails.

Follow TheFutureCemetery on Facebook and Twitter @FutureCemetery

Find out more about the project: 

http://www.futurecemetery.com/index.html

http://old.react-hub.org.uk/heritagesandbox/projects/2012/the-future-cemetery/

Part of the REACT (Research and Enterprise in Arts and Creative Technology) Sandbox Programme, which teams arts and humanities researchers and academics from the University of the West of England and the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, with creative companies and producers from Watershed's Pervasive Media Studio. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), REACT (Research and Enterprise in Arts and Creative Technology) is one of four UK Knowledge Exchange Hubs for the Creative Economy. 

More on REACT: http://www.react-hub.org.uk/ More on the Pervasive Media Studio: http://www.watershed.co.uk/pmstudio/

This project is part of REACT's Heritage Sandbox.

About the makers:
John Troyer is Deputy Director of University of Bath’s Centre for Death and Society.

Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust is a working cemetery, heritage site and vital urban green space covering 45 acres in the centre of Bristol city.

Calling The Shots is an award-winning production company with an ethos of widening participation, delivering broadcast, web and multiplatform projects.

About Watershed:
Watershed is an independent cinema and a centre for art and creative technology: we are home to the Pervasive Media Studio, where artists, technologists and academics work on projects and products at the cutting edge of art, science and digital. 

Our YouTube channel will bring you new short films, insights into the world of cinema, and the latest experiments in art and technology from Watershed. Tune in every week for fresh entertainment and inspiration. 

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Love technology and digital media? So do we! Here at Watershed we unashamedly celebrate technology old and new, as well as the people putting it to new and unexpected uses, whether for a creative, commercial or social project. Tune in on the first Tuesday of the month for new videos from Watershed and others who are experimenting with creative and cultural uses for tech.