Virtual reality reunites mother with dead daughter, bringing tears but also helping her let go of child she has missed so dearly
- In South Korean documentary Meeting You, mother Jang Ji-sung got to see her daughter Nayeon, who died aged seven in 2017, thanks to virtual reality
- Motion capture technology recorded movements of a child actor that was the model for the virtual Nayeon, and her voice was reproduced
When a woman loses her husband, she is called a widow. When a man loses his wife, he is called a widower. And when a child loses his/her parents, he/she is called an orphan. But what do you call a parent who has lost his/her child? English has no word for it, because the pain is so unimaginable, there is no word that can describe it.
Unfortunately, mum Jang Ji-sung had to go through such pain when her daughter, seven-year-old Nayeon, died three years ago. But thanks to virtual reality (VR), the South Korean mum was able to reunite with her deceased child, for a short while.
One of the country’s broadcasters, MBC, made it possible through the documentary translated as Meeting You. It aired in South Korea last week.
A preview of the scene with Jang and her departed daughter was shared on MBC’s YouTube page, which showed the cut between both worlds – the real and the virtual one – where the two met again.
According to MBC, the production team took eight months to develop the VR simulation. They used motion capture technology to record the movements of a child actor that they could later use as a model for their virtual Nayeon, and reproduced her voice. They also designed a virtual park – based on the one the mother-daughter duo frequented – where they would meet.
