Soon, chat with digitally reconstructed avatars of departed souls

It may soon be possible to communicate with dead people, or at least their digitally reconstructed avatars, using software developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

A new startup from MIT's entrepreneurship development program claims to enable users to become immortal via their computer.

To be launched soon, the web service is called www.eterni.me, and would digitally reconstruct a person's personality after they die.

"Eterni.me collects almost everything that you create during your lifetime and processes this huge amount of information using complex artificial intelligence algorithms," explained the information available on the website.

"It generates a virtual YOU, an avatar that emulates your personality and can interact with your family and friends after you pass away. It's like a Skype chat from the past." it added.

While the concept is not especially new, MIT's Eterni.me service is still quite far away from generating what in science-fiction is known as an uploaded personality. However, it is interesting to see how Eterni.me uses communications data to procure information on the user, rather than a brain scanning technique.

To register, users must provide the Eterni.me service with access to online activities like chat logs, social network accounts photos and emails.

The information is then used to stitch together a digital personality and avatar, capable of communicating with friends and loved ones after a person dies, aping mannerisms

The service also claims to assure users that important events, adventures and thoughts in their lives will be made accessible to future generations who never met them.

Since going live, the website has received 36,000 page views and 1,300 email registrations in just 24 hours.