[www.keralites.net] iGrave

 

American funeral directors have unveiled the first 'iGrave.'

It uses GPS satellite tracking to allow relatives to find their loved ones in a natural burial site.

Everyone buried at The Preserve, a 1.5-acre natural burial site in Lafayette, Indiana, receives a GPS transmitter disk in the center of their casket, or in the grave if there is no casket.

The GPS reader, left, and the satellite disks which are placed on the caskets

The battery powered devices last for several years, and are roughly the size of a hockey puck.

They are based on systems usually used to locate buried water pipes or gas mains.

There are several types of 'iGrave' systems available - some use GPS satellites, while others use special electronic tags known as RFID more often found in 'tap and pay' credit cards and in departments stores to track clothes.

The high tech burials are designed to allow staff and family members to find their loved ones exact location in a burial ground where graves are not marked.

Staff and family will be given special readers to direct them to the correct area.

"It's like reading a bar code," said Joe Canaday of Hippensteel Funeral Service and Crematory.

Easy to find: In natural burial sites where graves are unmarked, caskets can now be quickly located

People who are cremated also receive a GPS transmitter.

The GPS locator can read up to 5 feet deep, and staff expect to have to use it when the graves become covered with grass and plants in the natural burial ground.

Natural burial grounds around the world have previously given mourners the GPS co-ordinates of their loved ones.

However, The Preserve is believed to be the first to actually place a tracking device in each casket.

Natural burial grounds, where bodies are placed in open woodlands, have become increasingly popular in recent years.

Bodies can either be buried, or ashes sprinkled or even buried under trees of plants.

Biodegradable coffins are used, allowing the body to decompose more quickly, with cardboard, wicker or other materials often used.

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