Already this year I’ve lost several friends, mentors, and coworkers from my past. Each one had a different online obituary site, and most had some Facebook presence, but the ability to fully communicate felt limited. A new IndieGoGo project called RIPCemetary seeks to allow loved ones to “create a space to honor a person and keep the memories alive forever.”
The goal of the project is to develop an online community where participants can easily pay tribute to loved ones who have died, sharing memories, photos and videos in a safe and private environment.
According to founder Jacopo Vitali, who wanted a way to honor a young cousin who died and find a place where everyone could leave remembrances, stories and express their feelings forever:
“None of the social platforms really worked as a way to remember my cousin, and all of our friends and family lived too far apart to gather together in one place. I wanted to share my feelings with others who knew him, but there was not a good way to do that on current social networks,” said Vitali. “I developed the RIPCemetery as a way for mourners to share memories online, build out a support network and connect with people all over the world. It’s a new way to help everyone who is dealing with loss.”
Here are some of the key features:
• Create and personalize a virtual family tomb where users can add dear ones and pets
• Leave special tributes with custom photos and graphics where participants can deliver virtual flowers or other objects
• Create custom and personalized messages that will be shared with others who are also remembering this person (called Post-Rip)
• Contribute a thought, a photo or a video in a virtual guestbook for other participants to view and respond to
• A portion of the money participants spend for tributes, virtual flowers or toys will be donated by RIPCemetery to a charitable organization
• Adjustable privacy settings depending on whom you want to allow to participate
• An in-app geolocation system to make it easy to visit a loved one’s memorial
RIPCemetery is launching today on IndieGoGo with a goal of reaching $23,000 by April 9, 2015. To donate visit the IndieGoGo project site.
For more details head to the RIPCemetery official site.
Here is the project launch video: