Traditional funerals are old hat, it seems. Common practices are falling out of favor as new, out-of-the-ordinary trends come to the fore.
Eco-friendly burials, live online streams, themed funerals, and various personalized services have become popular in the West and
Today it’s possible to buy an exclusive designer coffin or make a vinyl record from a loved one’s ashes. Here are three Russian companies that are offering personalized funerals and giving people new ways to celebrate their loved one’s life and death.
Humans often dreamed of reaching stars and flying to space, but not many are lucky to do it in their lifetime. Now anyone can get close to fulfilling this dream thanks to Russian company SpaceWay (though you have to die first)
Taking responsibility for all organizational aspects of the event (like arranging the flight with the military and air traffic controllers) SpaceWay also gives the relatives of the deceased the opportunity to witness the launch through a GoPro camera attached to the capsule.
For those who are happy to wait until scientists figure out a way of reviving the dead, it’s possible to cryopreserve (the use of very low temperatures to preserve structurally intact cells and tissues). “KrioRus” is the first such company in Eurasia offering this service.
Today, more than 300 have already signed a contract with KrioRus to cryopreserve their bodies, not to mention 31 pets. Sixty-five people have already been preserved, including 18 foreigners: three people from Ukraine, four from Italy, and one each from the U.S., Australia, India, France, Belarus, Georgia, Estonia, Israel, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Japan.
The company recommends making arrangements for cryopreservation well in advance to improve to ensure better preserved of the cells. There is an option to choose between preserving the whole body ($36,000) or just the brain ($15,000 for Russians and $18,000 for foreigners).
A vinyl record with a loved one’s voice or laughter, diamonds made of their hair, or a memorial tattoo using the remains mixed with ink - Russia’s Voyager company offers a wide range of funerals
Today, the company’s clients come primarily from abroad: from Austria, the UK, the U.S., Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus.
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