In South Korea, a TV documentary has intricately recreated the deceased daughter of a woman in virtual reality and then brought her together with her mother. Many find the documentary moving to tears, while others find the idea creepy.
This was the starting point: 7-year-old Nayeon died three years ago from an incurable illness. Her mother Jang Ju-sung has been mourning her daughter, the third of her four children:
- for she has tattooed her daughter’s name and birthday on her own body to remember her forever
- she wears a necklace containing Nayeon’s ashes
- she visits her grave once a month
This was the documentary: The Korean broadcaster MBC created a documentary about the grieving woman and her daughter titled “I Met You,” which aired on February 6.
The production team used virtual reality technology for over 8 months to create a detailed, virtual representation of Nayeon with her voice, face, and body.
For this, a child was used to perform motion capture recordings and as much information about Nayeon was collected as possible. From about a minute of recording of Nayeon, her voice could be replicated.
The mother said she decided to appear in the documentary “to provide comfort to anyone who has lost a child like her, a brother, a sister, or a parent.”
The meeting was meant to help the mother say goodbye
This is how the meeting went: The mother nervously entered the green room of the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), into the virtual reality studio, and quickly found herself in a peaceful meadow.
The daughter ran to her mother and asked, “Where have you been, Mommy? Have you thought about me?” The mother replied, “All the time.”
The daughter said, “I missed you so much, Mommy.” The mother responded, “I missed you too.”
At first, the mother was hesitant to touch her virtual daughter, but the daughter encouraged her: “Hold my hand.”
When the mother then reached for her daughter and stroked her, tears ran down her face. Her husband and the three remaining children watched and cried as well.
Mother and virtual daughter celebrated a birthday together, the daughter’s birthday wish was for Mommy to stop crying. At one point, the daughter ran to her mother and gave her a flower: “Mommy, you can see that I have no more pain.”
The meeting ended with the daughter lying down to sleep. She said she was tired, and the mother said goodbye.
The mother told her daughter, “I know that I held on to you and made things harder. I’m sorry that I couldn’t let you go to live on.”
The mother still has things to take care of for the family, but as soon as she is ready, she will come and find her daughter, no matter where she is. Then they can live together happily forever.
This is what the mother says after the meeting: The mother gave an interview after the meeting. She is described as exhausted. She smiled occasionally and still had tears in her eyes.
The mother said, “Maybe this is true paradise. I met Nayeon, who called me with a smile, for a very short but very happy time. I think I lived the dream I have always had.”
Some are deeply touched, others find it creepy
How is it discussed? There are two currents in the English comments under the YouTube video:
- Most are deeply moved by what they see. They say they cried themselves and can relate to the mother’s emotions, even if they don’t understand Korean.
- Others say it is creepy. Real “Black Mirror” stuff. Such things were only possible in science fiction before.
Some MMORPG fans have high hopes for virtual reality. They dream of “living” in virtual MMORPGs like in the anime Sword Art Online:
