WOW! Mother ‘Reunites’ With Dead Daughter Using Virtual Reality Technology

Jang Ji-sung

From gaming to military training, virtual reality has been used in a range of innovative ways in recent years.

Now, the technology has been used to ‘reunite’ a grieving mother with her daughter, four years after she died.

Jang Ji-sung used the technology on Korean TV show ‘Meeting You’, and was able to see and touch a virtual version of her daughter Nayeon, who passed away in 2016.

During the touching interaction, the mum and daughter were able to play, touch and even hold conversations.

In a video of the encounter, the mother can be heard saying ‘Oh my pretty, I have missed you’, while stroking the virtual replica of her daughter.

The virtual daughter then replied: “I missed mom a lot.”

At the end of the conversation, Nayeon then lay down to sleep, and her mother said goodbye.

Jang hopes that the encounter will help others who have lost family members.

Writing on her blog, she said: “Three years later, I now think I should love her more than miss her and feel sick so that I can be confident when I meet her later. I hope many people will remember Nayeon after watching the show.”

However, ethicists have raised concerns about the use of the technology in the future.

Speaking to MailOnline, Dr Blay Whitby, an ethicist at the University of Sussex, said: “We just don’t know the psychological effects of being ‘reunited’ with someone in this way.

“A lot of psychiatrists would regard that as potentially unhealthy. The problem is that in the pursuit of profit or worse, people will be exploited.”