Can you believe it? Nowadays, the funeral industry is starting to use drones.
This is not a still from a science fiction horror movie, but a real scene that happened in Zunyi, Guizhou in March this year.
A recent video from Zunyi, Guizhou made Xiaolei stupid.
What happened was that in a mountain village in Zunyi, Guizhou, an old man passed away. According to local custom, he had to be buried in the mountains. But the coffin weighed 467 kilograms, and it had rained for nine consecutive days, making the mountain road narrow and slippery.
In many mountainous and hilly areas, cemeteries are built on the top of the mountain or halfway up the mountain, with steep slopes, poor road conditions, and rain. It is difficult for a person to climb a mountain with bare hands, let alone carrying a coffin.
In the local area, it is taboo for the coffin to fall to the ground, which is unlucky, and the family members are afraid that carrying the coffin up the mountain may cause death.
The owner didn’t want to take this risk, so he came up with the idea of using a modified six-axis industrial drone to lift the coffin and transport it into the mountains.
As a result, the video went viral as soon as it was posted online.
Xiaolei believes that half of the success of this matter is due to the impact of the picture of the drone and the coffin being put together, and the other half is due to the imagination of netizens.
Someone gave a professional analysis based on cyber Feng Shui. The drone is made of alloy, which belongs to Yang, and has eight fan blades. The zodiac sign is really hard enough. There are also people who associate “raising a coffin” with “getting rich”, which can be said to have taken the homophonic joke to the extreme.
One of the funniest comments was “My grandpa has never flown in a plane in his life. Unexpectedly, he became the first person in the village to fly a drone after his death.”
However, in the mountainous areas of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, using drones to transport coffins is nothing new.
Mr. Yang, who is engaged in drone transportation, said frankly,My drone was not originally used to transport coffins, but it slowly started to pick up coffins later. Because there are many mountains in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, the roads in many villages are inaccessible to cars, and it is even more difficult when it rains. More and more families are looking for drones.
If carrying a coffin up a mountain is just a porter, then the other uses of drones in the funeral industry are truly remarkable.
Nowadays, the application of drones in the funeral industry has become so outrageous that people call them alive for a long time.
First, drones scatter ashes.
Xiaolei took a look and found that in Japan, some people have begun to use drones to scatter ashes. Family members stand on the beach and the drones fly over the sea with the ashes.
Families can use the APP to view the GPS coordinates of the scattered ashes, wear VR glasses to lay flowers virtually, and pay virtual tribute anytime and anywhere.
What’s even more exaggerated is that American companies are already testing high-altitude drones to scatter ashes into the stratosphere, which is far from commercial use.
This year’s Tomb Sweeping Day ancestor worship is even more technological, with drones dropping sacrifices and robot dogs carrying roasted pigs to the graves to worship.
Second, drones hang sacrifices and deliver paper money.
During this year’s Qingming Festival, some people used drones and robot dogs to worship ancestors. Using drones to airdrop sacrifices up the mountain, netizens in Zhanjiang, Guangdong chose to use robot dogs to deliver sacrifices up the mountain.
The scene of the robot dog carrying a roasted pig to the grave to kowtow to its ancestors really made Xiao Lei finally see what top-notch black humor is.
There are even business geniuses who directly see the business opportunities inside.
Mr. Wei, a citizen from Laibin, Guangxi, told reporters that since four years ago, his lifting team has been taking orders during the Qingming Festival to help nearby folks transport sacrifices using drones. They only charge auspicious money each time, ranging from 88, 168, and 188 yuan.
Third, drone cloud scanning.
Drones are equipped with high-definition cameras to help family members who cannot be present to sweep the graves from a distance. The camera slowly flies over the cemetery, and the images are transmitted back in real time. The family members can see the appearance of their loved ones in front of the graves on their mobile phone screens, and can also send flowers and leave messages remotely.
This model was most popular during the epidemic years, and now it has become a normal option, especially suitable for workers working in other places.
To put it bluntly, drones can bring up the funeral industry, which is something that can be solved with technology and try not to bother people.
High mountains and long distances, manpower shortages, fire prevention pressure, and off-site funeral and cleaning are all long-standing problems that have plagued the funeral industry for decades. Drones can clearly arrange them for you.
In addition, the technology of the funeral industry has long spread to the field of AI.
There are now many funeral service companies that use AI technology to make photos of the deceased move, speak, and say goodbye to relatives and friends at memorial services, as if the deceased himself was interacting. This is calledDigital resurrection.
With VR sacrifice scan and cloud sacrifice, you can go back to your hometown’s ancestral graves and kowtow incense to your ancestors by wearing glasses. With a combination of punches, the funeral industry has been completely involved in the technology circle.
To be honest, labor costs are getting higher and higher, and coffin bearers and Feng Shui masters are becoming more and more difficult to find. Compared with extravagant traditional ceremonies, today’s young people are more accepting of new funeral methods that are efficient, environmentally friendly, and technologically sensitive.
If the market has demand and businesses have motivation, it will naturally roll up.
In addition to funerals, drones have a variety of applications in our daily lives.
Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Shanghai all have drone delivery routes. Traffic jam during rush hour? The drones don’t care. From the time you place the order to the time you receive your milk tea, it may only take ten minutes, and it is delivered in airplane mode.
There are also drones used to deliver rings and proposals, light shows, and a sky version of romantic economy.
Nowadays, the most common image in the city night sky is the drone light show putting together various patterns, focusing on the most beautiful boy in the sky.
If someone is drowning at the beach and the lifeguard has not arrived yet, the drone arrives first: it hangs a lifebuoy and flies to the drowning person’s head, drops it accurately, and provides rescue tools in a matter of seconds.
In recent years, coastal cities have promoted drone + lifebuoy emergency rescue on a large scale, which can really save lives at critical moments. This is the most meaningful of all uses.
Drones can do flower chores and save lives. If you look at drones and funerals together, you will find a very cyberpunk closed loop.
When you are alive, drones will deliver you milk tea, takeaways, and life preservers; when you are gone, drones will carry your coffin, scatter ashes, and burn paper for you. This picture is full of sense, it is simply a one-stop service for drones.
Of course, there is quite a lot of controversy online regarding the drone hanging coffin.
Many netizens said that the cemetery in their hometown is on the top of the mountain. Every year, they have to climb the mountain until their legs are weak. When an elderly family member dies, it is even more difficult to carry the coffin. Drone transportation of the coffin really solves a big problem. This is the temperature that technology should have.
But some people think that things can’t be so easy. Funerals are about solemnity and dignity. Although carrying the coffin up the mountain is tiring, it is the family’s last thoughts for the deceased and is part of the traditional etiquette.
In fact, we are not the only ones who find this outrageous. Japan has already criticized it. Osaka also had an own goal in 2022. The drone accidentally scattered ashes on the roof of a residential area due to malfunction, and was complained to the point that it flew up.
People sit at home and their ashes come to heaven. Who else could accept having his ashes scattered all over the roof?
Some people are worried about safety issues: If the drone malfunctions midway, who will be responsible if the coffin falls? There is some truth to this concern. After all, no one can guarantee the reliability of industrial drones.
說實話，Whether it is drones lifting coffins or scattering ashes, technology regardless of high or low is good technology if it can be applied to real life situations and solve real pain points.
Some people think that using drones to transport coffins is too impersonal? Isn’t it too undignified?
Xiao Lei Bibi (ID: xiaoleibbb) believes that,The essence of funeral is to let the deceased rest in peace and the living to feel at ease.
If drones can allow the elderly in mountainous areas to travel decently, allow travelers in foreign lands to perform their filial piety from a distance, and reduce security risks during festival sweeps, then it is meaningful, regardless of whether it is a traditional tool or a technological tool.
After all, the fact that drones carry coffins up a mountain can trigger such a big discussion shows that everyone is thinking about the same question. As technology becomes more and more advanced, how can we say goodbye in a dignified manner?
There may be no standard answer, but at least technology has given one more option when it comes to saying goodbye.
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