Story of Us is just beginning
Three friends have come together to create a company that tells your more about a deceased person’s life.
The Story Of has been launched in Cork and is aiming to help people tell the stories of their loved ones via a QR code on their gravestone. It is the brainchild of three friends who met through UCC’s Entrepreneurial Network. The company is now hoping to attract investment so that it can grow and expand.
The founders of the company are Luke Murphy, Judie Russell and Danny O’Donovan. Danny’s grandfather was a well-known boxer in Cork called Danzer Nagle and Danny wanted to tell the story of his achievements and the highlights of his career in a way that would attract the attention of the older generation who might remember him as well as a younger generation who would have an interest in Cork characters.
There is now a QR code on his gravestone and he’s hoping to embed a similar one on a plaque being erected in his honour by the Cork Ex-Boxers Association.
Company founder, Judie Russell, said: “Around 60 million people on this planet die each year and for the most part their stories, their advice and their personalities die with them and capturing all of this would have a positive impact on different groups. When older people are given space to reminisce on their lives, it can be of huge benefit to their mental health. Also studies have shown that when children learn family stories it creates a shared history, strengthens emotional bonds and helps them make sense of their experiences when something senseless happens like a global pandemic.”
Each year around 30,000 people die in Ireland and when they are buried, loved ones are limited by the amount of text they can put on their gravestone.
The Story Of plans to overcome that by working with families to gather information about their deceased loved ones in the form of pictures and videos. With this information they will compile a webpage of the person’s life which can be accessed via a QR code on their grave.
For people who are visiting graveyards, they can scan the QR to access the story.
The Story Of is used via a web application that allows people to create their virtual headstones where precious memories are vividly captured, preserved and shared. Videos, audio, images, and words are assembled on this final page that represents the legacy of a person’s life.
QR codes can be engraved on headstones or attached to an urn, bench and even printed on remembered cards.
The founders of the new business are hoping to develop it further in the future with the help of the right investor.
People can contact the website thestoryof.io if they would like to have their own story or the story of their loved one recorded and embedded on a gravestone.