VR Technology: Beijing funeral parlor helps people prepare for the end

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Virtual reality technology is being used in many ways, often in hopes of taking people to another world. Now a funeral parlor in Beijing is using the technology to let people experience death. Li Jianhua visited the Babaoshan Funeral Parlour and filed this report.

Orchid flowers lining the wall, exquisitely embroidered. It may not seem like it, but these are actually for the deceased. Wreaths standing on both sides, this is where the bereaved say goodbye to the dead. Looking elegant in a European fashion, a morgue is still a morgue.

LI JIANHUA BEIJING "The subject of death is taboo in many different cultures, including China's. It is something that people try to steer clear of until the reality sets in. In western Beijing, the Babaoshan Funeral Parlour has come up with a new way to help people experience what it's like to die. Now let's go and take a look."

Technology meets "death", there is some chemistry between the two. Strapping on VR glasses, I watch myself have a seizure at work. After medical treatment fails, I find myself in heaven, heaven with some Chinese flares.

LIAO HONGNING ENGINEER, BABAOSHAN FUNERAL PARLOUR "The VR technology can let people experience death through a first-person perspective. With visual and audio effects, people feel how their hearts gradually fail. They go to heaven, and see their own lives flash by before their eyes. The point of this is to give people a more positive outlook on life and death."

The "death simulator" was used one year ago to let terminally ill patients experience how their body slowly loses sense of itself to reduce the fear of death. Liao said they will introduce the same technology soon.

LIAO HONGNING ENGINEER, BABAOSHAN FUNERAL PARLOUR "Later we will introduce more advanced technology. As VR technology develops, visitors will experience more interaction in the video."

Nearly 70 percent of Beijing's deceased are cremated at the Babaoshan Funeral Parlour every year. This is also the place where many Chinese leaders are taken when they pass away. LJH, CGTN, BEIJING.