2 days ago
Wed Jan 14, 2026 8:37pm PST
Ask HN: Make cemeteries in cities less offensive by using virtual headstones?
Imagine a park where people are still buried, but there are no visible headstones. Instead, relatives and visitors use an app that reveals virtual memorials only when they are nearby. Photos, messages, or small digital tributes could appear while the park itself remains calm, open, and unmarked for everyone else.

This approach would:

* Keep urban green spaces welcoming to the public without confronting them with death.

* Give families a private, interactive way to remember loved ones.

* Allow the space to serve multiple purposes, with quiet reflection for some and recreation for others, without disrespecting the graves.

* Introduce a gentle way for people, especially children, to grow up around remembrance without it feeling overwhelming or morbid.

It is a way to honor the dead while respecting the living’s comfort, turning remembrance into something optional and personal rather than constantly in your face.

What do you think of this idea?

comments:
add comment
loading comments...