Research on Remote Funeral Attendance: Case Studies and Design Practices

2024 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K18447
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 1:Philosophy, art, and related fields
• Research Institution: Shibaura Institute of Technology (2023-2024); The University of Tokyo (2022)
• Principal Investigator: Uriu Daisuke 芝浦工業大学, デザイン工学部, 助教 (40635562)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 金 セッピョル 総合地球環境学研究所, 研究基盤国際センター, 客員助教 (00791310)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-06-30 – 2025-03-31
• Keywords: バーチャル葬儀 / 遠隔葬儀参列 / デザインフィクション / 映画 / 移民

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigated the current state of remote funeral attendance or virtual funerals, while also designing for virtual funeral experiences. In Japan today, following the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual funerals are becoming a thing of the past. However, in countries with large immigrant populations, such as Australia, they continue to be practiced and have become established as a cultural custom. In response to the changing situation in Japan (i.e., the declining need for virtual funerals), we produced a design fiction film titled "Interfuit," which portrays a near-future society where virtual funerals have become widespread. A research paper about this work was presented as a full paper at ACM CHI 2025. Even after the official end of the research period, we plan to continue organizing screenings of the film.

Free Research Field

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) デザイン

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、文化人類学的アプローチにより、バーチャル葬儀の状況と意義の解明に取り組むとともに、HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) デザイン研究として近未来のバーチャル葬儀のあり方を描いた。人文学的調査で得られた知見をデザインフィクション映画のコンセプトデザインに反映するという、分野横断型の方法論を提示した。国内の複数の葬祭関係事業者へのヒアリングを通し、バーチャル葬儀の意義や可能性を把握するとともに、ビジネスとしての普及の困難さを把握した。一方で、国外での展開について調査に着手し、移民が多く暮らす国での受容という切り口を見つけ、さらなる海外研究の必要性を把握した。