People can't decide if new VR tech is 'torture or a blessing' after watching video of mom meeting her dead daughter

Depending on your perspective, a video showing the capabilities of virtual reality could warm your heart or send it into a panicked frenzy.

A South Korean documentary highlighted how a team of tech savvy experts were able to reunite a mother with her dead daughter.

Jang Ji-sung agreed to take part in the 2020 documentary entitled I Met You and the meeting is a very emotional affair.

Wearing a VR headset and touch sensitive gloves, Ji-sung is transported to a park where her daughter is playing. The daughter, who died of leukemia in 2016 aged six, then hops out to greet her mother.

“Mum, where have you been?” she asked. “I’ve missed you a lot. Have you missed me?”

While crying, Ji-Sung reached out towards her and answered: “I have missed you Na-yeon.”

Now for some this proved to be a heart-warming moment, reuniting a grieving mother with her lost daughter, others questioned if it would really help the grieving mother find peace.

“I'm getting this is not about trying to recreate her child, this just about to let the mother to give her last goodbye. To find a proper closure,” one YouTube user wrote.

Jang Ji-sung agreed to take part in the 2020 documentary entitled I Met You.(GlobalNews/YouTube)

“To see our loved ones that are gone now. Especially when they've left so soon. It's not a torture like many think. It's something many people crave to get - to see someone who's just gone,” another added.

“I wish I could experience this, with my mom. I would love to be able to properly say goodbye to her. I am happy this woman felt she was able to have some kind of closure,” a third commented.

“Guys keep in mind that THIS can actually help people find closure and give the ability to say goodbye or let go,” another user wrote.

However, others questioned whether it could do more harm than good.

“Imagine losing your child and through vr you get see them again and go to hug them and your hand goes right through them that must be pure torture,” one TikTok user wrote.

The daughter, who died of leukemia in 2016 at age 6, hops out to greet her mother. (GlobalNews/YouTube)

“Tbh this is kinda cruel but sweet, because I wouldn’t be able to rest after this. I’d have to heal all over again,” another added.

“I feel like this is so cruel she seeing someone that she had but lost, but can’t get again, it just doesn’t feel right,” commented a second.

“This is [will likely] lengthen the grieving process. This will also cause the woman to become dependent of the machine to the point where she's forking over thousands to use it,” another commented.

What are your thoughts?

Topics: Technology

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.