Virtual reality is increasingly used in a wide variety of fields, including entertainment, education, marketing, medicine, and now even reuniting a grieving mother with her deceased daughter.

The Korean company Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, or MBC, aired a television documentary on February 6 called Meeting You, which recounted the story of a family’s loss when their seven-year-old daughter Nayeon passed away from a rare, incurable disease in 2016.

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At one point in the episode, Jang Ji-sung, mother of four, was temporarily reunited with her deceased child in virtual reality with the help of an HTC Vive headset and touch sensitive VR gloves. The girl was meticulously recreated in 3D, complete with movements and audio that reacted in real time to her mother’s words and actions. MBC’s production team had worked for eight months to accurately render Nayeon’s face, body, and voice, and motion capture was used to create the virtual child’s movements.

Korean TV Show deceased daughter

As her husband and three remaining children watched from the audience, the tearful mother was able to converse with her daughter in virtual reality, sing songs, watch her play on a swing set, and even celebrate her birthday with a cake and balloons. Nayeon’s birthday wish? That her mother not cry anymore. At one point, the daughter ran up and gave her mother a flower, saying, “Mommy, you can see that I’m not hurting anymore, right?” At the end of the encounter, Nayeon lay down to sleep, saying that she was tired, and her mother bid her goodbye.

In an interview afterward, Jang Ji-sung looked exhausted, but she occasionally smiled as she talked about what she had just experienced with tears still in her eyes. Wearing a pendant around her neck containing Nayeon’s ashes, Jang Ji-sung explained that she had decided to participate in the documentary in order to help other people who have lost a brother, parent, or child as she had.

Responses to the TV documentary ranged across the spectrum. Some comments on Twitter and YouTube stated that the entire idea of recreating a deceased child was creepy. Other commenters were emotional and expressed compassion for Jang Ji-sung and her family’s loss.

What the long-term psychological impact of the experience will be for this mother and her family are yet to be seen. Whether it helps with the healing process or further adds to the trauma are questions that might never be answered. The incredible power of virtual reality and the increasingly creative applications of the technology are very clear, however.

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Source: Aju Business Daily