A grandmother was able to talk to mourners at her own funeral service - as part of a new 'holographic' technology being trialled in the UK.
A Los Angeles-based startup called StoryFile created the technology which allows those who have passed away to address their own mourners via a special video.
The technology creates a digital clone of the subject by using nearly 20 synchronised cameras to record them answering a series of questions.
One of the first users of the technology was Marina Smith MBE - the mother of StoryFile's CEO Dr Stephen Smith - who died in June at the age of 87.
Dr Smith told The Telegraph in the UK: "Mum answered questions from grieving relatives after they had watched her cremation.
"The extraordinary thing was that she answered their questions with new details and honesty.
"People feel emboldened when recording their data. Mourners might get a freer, truer version of their lost loved one."
Mrs Smith was recognised on the Queen’s 2005 New Year’s Honours List with an MBE, and at the beginning of the year, she spent several hours recording answers to her Storyfile questions using a webcam and her computer.
At her funeral, held last month, her hologram was able to deliver a speech about her life and spirituality, and speak to her loved ones.
Dr Smith added: "What was most valuable to me as her son, was the fact that my mother was prepared to answer questions about her early childhood.
"This included difficult topics such as the divorce of her parents and living as an immigrant from India.
"People feel emboldened when recording their data. Mourners might get a freer, truer version of their lost loved one."
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