Thursday, July 08, 2004

MORE MESSAGES FROM THE DEAD!

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - The dead could soon be speaking from the grave if an American inventor's plan becomes reality.
Robert Barrows, of Burlingame, California has filed a patent application for a video-equipped tombstone that will display a video message from grave's occupant.
"If his patent is granted, Barrows hopes that when people make out their will, they also leave a parting video with their lawyer," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
The hollow, talking tombstone will include a flat touch screen and will house a computer with a microchip memory or hard disc. It will be powered by electricity from the cemetery's lighting system.
The plan will not be the first electronically enhanced tombstone. An American company has a patent on a gravestone that will display photographs of the deceased and tributes from friends, according to the magazine.
But the Barrows plan will go one further by including contributions actually from the deceased.
"It's history from the horse's mouth," he said.