The Norwegian technology company Memcare continues to digitize the funeral industry, their latest offer is virtual reality live streaming of funeral ceremonies. With VR glasses and a 360-camera package guests unable to be present at the funeral can watch the ceremony “in the room”.
Just a few years ago even regular streaming was considered science fiction and too technical amongst Memcare’ clients - with home office being the norm for the last few years, a lot has changed. Memcare has now added VR (Virtual Reality) of funeral ceremonies to their digital product portfolio and made it available for all their funeral home clients.
- VR technology helps us connect everyone involved in a funeral at an even higher level. We are seeing strong growth in the number of interactions on our memorial pages and video streaming has made it possible for families and friends to attend the funeral ceremony, even if they may not be physically present. With the addition of Virtual Reality and 360-degree cameras we are able to offer the next best thing to being in the room, says CEO of Memcare, Lars Martinsen.
Sales of VR glasses have exploded all over the world. The VR technology and service is currently offered by Memcare's funeral home clients in Scandinavia and Germany, but the plan is to make the service available to funeral home clients worldwide.
- People ask, does virtual reality have a place in the funeral industry? Our answer is clearly yes. VR glasses and the technology makes it easy for the bereaved that do not have the opportunity to participate in the funeral ceremony to get as close to a physical participation as possible with today's technology. There has already been some interest, and we believe the demand will grow in the coming years, says Martinsen.
- The pandemic really made it clear how crucial it is for people to take part in the mourning process. Even if they cannot physically participate in the funeral ceremony they want to have a sense of being present and participating. Our memorial pages with video streaming solutions have become very popular. Memcare’s team is always looking to innovate and improve digital opportunities for both the funeral industry and the bereaved, says co-founder and COO Håkon Årøen.
The co-founders of Memcare, Lars Martinsen and Håkon Årøen.
Memcare was established in May 2017 and is building modern digital solutions for a €80+ billion market ripe for modernization. Outdated legacy software solutions are still the norm in the industry. Memcare has focused on northern Europe, but plans to expand to several new markets in the years ahead.
Memcare offers the only digital solution a funeral home needs in their daily operation, funeral home management (CRM tailored for funeral homes) as well as modern memorial pages and notification tools for the bereaved. Memcare is also one of very few software providers that offer all-in-one cloud-based solutions in the funeral industry.
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