A South Korean television broadcaster has modeled a mother’s late daughter in virtual reality (VR). The nine-minute excerpt from the documentary “I met you” has now become an internet hit – and has triggered a heated debate. While many users expressed their sympathy for the mother and supported the concept of the program, others accused the creators of exploiting the family’s suffering.
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The daughter, Na Yeon, died of leukemia at the age of seven a few years ago. She appears again as a virtual figure. “Mom, where have you been?” She asks her mother. “I missed you so much – you missed me too?”
Her mother replies, “I missed you, Na Yeon,” and extends her hands in tears to stroke her daughter’s hair. Jang Ji Sung stands with a VR headset on his head and touch-intensive gloves in front of a green studio screen. The mother herself had wanted the action to be able to say goodbye to her daughter again: she wanted to be able to tell her that she loved her and that she had never forgotten her.
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The footage of Jang Ji Sung and her virtual daughter was viewed more than 13 million times on YouTube within a week. It took the creators eight months to create Na Yeon virtually.
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