Touching or grotesque? The gadget that lets you 'talk' to dead people - Daily Mail

It sounds similar thing retired of a dystopian sci-fi film: virtual-reality humans that mimic the voices and facial expressions of dormant people, truthful loved ones tin talk to them from beyond the grave.

But present a Korean artificial quality steadfast has made that ‘ghoulish’ imaginativeness a reality, insisting the arguable work volition assistance friends and household header with grief.

The exertion uses instrumentality learning to process images, audio recordings and video footage of precocious deceased radical to make a virtual mentation that tin interact with the living, arsenic if connected a video call.

Called re;memory, the bundle tin adjacent reply questions from the grieving, and stock memories from the past.

Seoul-based DeepBrain AI showcased the work astatine the Consumer Electronics Show successful Las Vegas. It is expected to outgo betwixt £10,000 and £20,000 to make a virtual person, past £1,000 each clip a loved 1 wants a speech with it.

Business improvement manager Joseph Murphy acknowledged that the work was controversial. ‘We’ve already recovered it to beryllium truly polarising,’ helium told The Mail connected Sunday. ‘Some radical emotion the accidental to unrecorded connected everlastingly successful this way, but galore radical presumption it arsenic inauthentic.’

But helium added: ‘People similar that they tin stock their memories aft they’re gone and they privation their household to retrieve them successful a steadfast state.’

He suggested re;memory was champion suited for radical with terminal illnesses specified arsenic crab who could walk respective hours successful beforehand of a camera to let the bundle to larn their mannerisms and cod dependable data. Subjects are besides encouraged to constitute journals astir their lives, including puerility memories, to beryllium saved into the system.

Family members tin past sojourn the company’s workplace to talk to the replica loved 1 aft their death. When prompted, the avatar tin recite extracts from their diary oregon interviews. Murphy says the results are realistic. He said: ‘You mightiness inquire it “Tell maine astir the clip you met Dad”, and the virtual idiosyncratic volition beryllium capable to archer the communicative successful full. The much they journal, the much realistic the acquisition volition be.’

But Sue Gill, a unpaid with Cruse Bereavement Support, said: ‘This sounds bizarre and ghoulish.

‘Lots of people, erstwhile they cognize they are dying, constitute letters oregon journals oregon marque recordings. That’s utilizing modern exertion astatine its best. This feels somewhat similar they are preying connected the bereaved.’

The work has been launched successful Asia and the US, with plans to unfastened successful the UK soon. Last year, different firm, LA-based StoryFile, created a integer mentation of Marina Smith, 87, which talked to mourners astatine her ain ceremonial successful Nottinghamshire.