Telepresence After Death

FORUM Telepresence after Death Abstract edge the role of technology that makes it appear that he or she is communicating with one or more other people This paper examines some of the increasingly sophisticated or entities” (International Society for Presence Re- attempts by humans to evoke the presence of themselves search, 2000). or others after death and considers these efforts in the We begin with a brief discussion of attitudes and be- context of telepresence theory and research. Potential fu- haviors that demonstrate the strong human need for a ture research and ethical implications are also addressed. sense of the presence of those who have died. 1 Introduction 2 The Need for Presence after Death At Wired magazine’s NextFest 2005, Hanson Ro- Because death is a universal, mysterious, and often botics presented an android in the image of deceased sci- disturbing phenomenon, we are naturally interested in ence fiction writer Philip K. Dick. A team of scientists, art- death and develop complex beliefs and behaviors re- ists, literary scholars and writers created it as a “powerful garding it. Margaret Mead (1930) writes: memorial to the author.” “Celebrating and resurrecting” Dick using “expressive robot hardware, natural language Death plays an important part in our lives at the un- AI, and machine vision,” the android was said to “depict conscious level. Cultural attitudes toward death have the author with stunning accuracy” (Rhodes, 2006; see been influenced by and are illustrative of unconscious also Christensen, 2005). dynamic mechanisms known to psychoanalysis as re- While humans have used grave markers, paintings, gression, repression, projection and rationalization.... and other technologies to evoke the sense of the pres- [A]ll cultures are quite concerned, not only for them- ence of loved ones after they have died, the Dick an- selves as men and women who die, but as survivors of droid is one of many recent, and arguably increasingly deceased kin making special adjustment to a world successful, efforts to use sophisticated technology to whose familiar order has been changed. (p. 183) recreate the presence of people after they die. This paper Throughout the centuries and the world, a variety of reviews technologies that can evoke presence after religious, philosophical, and psychological theories and death, and considers them in the context of telepresence beliefs have helped survivors of the deceased feel some scholarship. It concludes with suggestions for future sense of closeness with the departed. These include life research and an introduction of some important ethical issues raised by this type of telepresence. Telepresence is defined here following Lombard and Ditton (1997) as a perceptual illusion of nonmediation created by technol- Matthew Lombard* ogy; in this case the key relevant dimension of telepres- Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian ence is social telepresence, which “occurs when part or Mass Media & Communication Program all of a person’s perception fails to accurately acknowl- Temple University Annenberg Hall 2020 North 13th Street Philadelphia, PA 19122 Presence, Vol. 17, No. 3, June 2008, 310–325 © 2008 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology *Correspondence to [email protected]. 310 PRESENCE: VOLUME 17, NUMBER 3 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/pres.17.3.310 by guest on 29 September 2021 Lombard and Selverian 311 after death, resurrection, reincarnation, and immortality Evidence of this yearning can be found in the human (Anderson, 1965; Park, n.d.).1 fascination with the possibility of actually communicat- With a notable exception during the last century (see ing with the dead through shamans, mediums, clairvoy- Essman, 2005; Nason, 2004), we have always sought ants, and channelers (Dombeck, 1994; Kastenbaum, continued closeness with the departed: 2006b). Today, psychic mediums can be found on TV (e.g., John Edward’s program “Crossing Over”; Official Until the twentieth century, maintaining a bond with the deceased had been considered a normal part of John Edward Website, n.d.), in theaters and in town the bereavement process in Western society. In con- centers, appealing to a growing population of survivors trast, in the twentieth century the view prevailed that seeking out contact with their lost loved ones successful mourning required the bereaved to emo- (Schwartz, Simon, & Russek, 2002). Fictional tales of tionally detach themselves from the deceased. (Kas- those who can communicate with the dead (e.g., the tenbaum, 2006a, Continuing Bonds, Detachment TV program “Ghost Whisperer”; Ghost Whisperer, Revisited) n.d.) are also popular. The attempted means of communication have The 1996 book Continuing Bonds: Another View of evolved. In the modern phenomenon known as Grief began to challenge this popular model, and recent “Raves,” individuals gather to dance away problems conclusions present a different view: such as death in a high-energy, unified group movement The development of a bond is conscious, dynamic, (Hutson, 2000); online raves attempt to alter states of and changing....Many believe the deceased are consciousness for such purposes as “contact[ing] spirits there to intervene and support them....[C]hildren or...experienc[ing] spiritual energy from other times and adolescents...build a new relationship with the and dimensions” (Brown, 1997, p. viii). In electronic deceased by talking to the deceased, locating the de- voice phenomena (EVP), the voices of the dead are said ceased (usually in heaven), experiencing the deceased to be heard in audio recordings (see American Associa- in their dreams, visiting the grave, feeling the pres- tion of Electronic Voice Phenomena, n.d., and Alcock, ence of the deceased, and by participating in mourn- n.d.). While critics have been just as vocal against the ing rituals....Adults also find themselves dreaming, theories of after-death communication, the afterworld talking to, and feeling the presence of the deceased. remains a reality to countless believers (King, 2001). (Constructing a Bond) Yearning for the presence of those who have died is In the first empirical study of Kubler-Ross’ (1969) likely to become more prevalent in countries such as well-known model of the stages of grief, Maciejewski, America where death rates will increase (e.g., due to the Zhang, Block, and Prigerson (2007) found that “yearn- large baby boom generation). ing, not depressive mood, is the salient psychological response to natural death” (p. 721); it is “more about yearning and pining and missing the person—a hunger 3 Using Technology to Evoke Presence for having them come back” (Conlon, 2007). after Death The living have often relied on technology—de- 1. The term presence traditionally has religious connotations: “The [Catholic] doctrine of the Real Presence asserts that in the Holy fined broadly as “a machine, device, or other application Eucharist, Jesus is literally and wholly present—body and blood, soul of human industrial arts...includ[ing] traditional and and divinity—under the appearances of bread and wine. Evangelicals and Fundamentalists frequently attack this doctrine as ‘unbiblical,’ but emerging electronic media...andtraditional arts such the Bible is forthright in declaring it” (Catholic Answers, n.d.). The as painting and sculpture” (ISPR, 2000)—to help them Real Presence Association (http://www.therealpresence.org) is dedi- cated to “Eucharistic Education and Adoration,” and its web site con- attain some sense of physical and social presence or con- tains a detailed exploration of the doctrine. nection with the departed. Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/pres.17.3.310 by guest on 29 September 2021 312 PRESENCE: VOLUME 17, NUMBER 3 3.1 Treatment of the Body author Suzanne Curchod Necker (1739–1794) left in- structions that her corpse be preserved under glass in a Especially in the difficult period immediately fol- tank of alcohol; English philosopher, jurist, and political lowing a death, technology is often used to create the theorist Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) asked to be per- illusion that the deceased (not just their body) contin- manently embalmed and kept at the University of Lon- ues to be physically present (this illusion may make later don, where his corpse, “now fitted with a head made of belief in their unseen presence seem more reasonable). wax, is regularly wheeled into college meetings, where it Many cultures follow rituals including the viewing of is duly recorded in the minutes as ‘present, but not vot- the body, a funeral, and casket burial or cremation (San- ing’” (Hijiya, 1983, p. 356); and today thousands of ford, 2002). Before a viewing, available technology is people add their names to the donor roster for the con- typically used to make the deceased appear as close to troversial Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds museum his physical likeness as possible to evoke, among other displays that feature “Anatomical Exhibition of Real things, a sense that he or she is present among the survi- Human Bodies” (Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds, vors (Taylor, 1989). “The ritual viewing of the body n.d.). And modern human mummification is available promotes social cohesion by uniting [the] family at a (Summum, n.d.).2 time of crisis” with each other and with the deceased It is worth noting that various forms of taxidermy are (DiLeo, 1994). used to retain the presence of our pets (see Auf wie- Meinwald (1999) notes that the viewing of the body dersehen pet, 2003; Perpetual Pet, n.d.), although we helps the survivors accept and adjust to the reality of the find no evidence of its use with human bodies. One person’s death. “The embalming and cosmeticizing of company that offers this service notes: the corpse, on the other hand, perpetuates the image of life, making the body a symbol of continuity rather than We at Perpetual Pet know that the loss of a dearly finality” (part 4). loved pet is a very difficult experience.

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