Memento Flori: Speculative design approaches to memorials of the future

Through a speculative design approach, we explore the benefits and drawbacks of virtual memorials. This work is presented within the context of a fictional business, Memento Flori, which offers users digital and tangible solutions to preserving their identity in the future. To illustrate a potential future where memorials are routinely held in immersive spaces, we produced digital artifacts, including a business website and product designs. Inspired by a generational timeline made possible when families routinely upload memories to a virtual environment, these designs include a memory capsule, in the form of a DNAbased projector, as an exploration into tangible representations of memories. This work explores ideas about how technology will evolve to support passing on generational information over time, with the aim to initiate a conversation around what parts of an identity can be preserved after someone's passing, and what form memories can take on for different individuals.