Ruapehu District Council creating virtual graves families can visit online

The cemetery-mapping drone. Photo / Supplied

Ruapehu District Council is asking people to send in photos of late relatives buried in local cemeteries to create virtual grave sites.

The council is using drones to create 3D maps of cemeteries and will combine them with photos of the deceased to allow people to find and visit a loved one's grave - online.

Mayor Don Cameron said the project was believed to be a first for any council in New Zealand.

"We are wanting to provide the ability for people to visit any Ruapehu cemetery online, view it in 3D, and select a grave site that will then display the relevant records for that grave including a picture of the buried person," Cameron said.

"With 10 cemeteries around our district, many dating back to early European settlement, council has been working with a local historian to locate photos of the buried people that will display with records for that grave.

"We are also hoping that family members alive today will be able to help supply photos of their relatives that we can use to help populate the database."

The council's IT manager Stuart Campbell said the project began because the council wanted to improve services to people researching their ancestry.

"As more and more people research their family history we are seeing increasing demands on our customer services staff to assist with cemetery searches.

"By putting our cemetery records online and linking it with 3D mapping we are hoping to make searching for Ruapehu cemetery information a more tangible experience while taking some work pressure off our front counter staff.

"Having a picture of the buried person alongside the cemetery record and combined with a 3D 'walk through' experience adds a new visual element that should allow people from outside the district searching for relatives to feel more connected with their ancestors and personal history.

"At this stage we are just concentrating on getting Manunui Cemetery fully mapped in 3D and tied in with our cemetery records online before moving on to our other cemeteries."