Mother and Deceased Daughter Reunites in a Virtual World

(Photo : Screenshot from Youtube/ MBCLife)

A documentary aired on South Korean television shows how a grieving mother got reunited with her deceased daughter through virtual reality technology. The daughter was reported to have died from a rare and incurable illness when she was seven years old. The episode touched the hearts of many viewers. 

Jang Ji-sung, the mother featured in the TV show, shared how believable her experience was after meeting her deceased daughter, Nayeon, again in a virtual world. She expressed her intense joy. Seeing Nayeon's smile again through virtual reality technology made her dream come true.

This documentary by MBC entitled 'I Met You' was piloted on television on February 6. It took the production team of the show eight long months to implement the face, voice, and body of Nayeon in a virtual world.

An article from Aju Business Daily stated that the mother and daughter's virtual reunion occurred in a park where the two had shared good memories in the past when Nayeon was still alive. 

To make the scene closest to the real thing, a child model's motion was recorded and inputted in a monitor to recreate the scene in a virtual reality studio.

Nayeon was the third of four siblings. She lost her life in 2016. After Nayeon's death, her mother got a tattoo of her name and birthday as a remembrance of her daughter. Once a month, the mother of four visits a charnel house. Also, she wears a necklace with her deceased daughter's bone powder.

In the virtual reality scene, a butterfly was seen flying and sat in one area in the park near her. Later, she heard the song of Nayeon. The mother cried when Nayeon was seen running towards her. Nayeon asked her mother where she had been and if her mother was thinking about her while she was gone. Her mother replied that she does think about her all the time. The two were observed exchanging warm words and expressing how much they missed each other. The virtual reality scene also included a part where the mother and daughter hugged each other. 

The husband and children of Jang were also present. As they witness the much-awaited reunion, tears also fell from their eyes.

A party for the birthday of Nayeon was celebrated with seaweed soup and a cake. As the candles on the cake were lit, Nayeon wished for her mother to stop crying.  

The mother agreed to appear in the virtual world TV documentary to help give comfort to others who also lost a child, a parent, or any loved one. 

From the time the show was broadcast, until the next day, a minimum of 200,000 people were reported to have visited the blog of Jang until it was closed. She did not disclose her age and location.

In Jang's blog, she shared that in the past three years since she lost her daughter, she realized that she should focus on her love and take care of herself to prepare herself for when she meets her daughter again.

She wants a lot of people to remember her daughter after the show aired.