GOWEN, Mich — What if you could talk to your loved ones even after they die?
One Kent County man is working to make that possible through virtual reality technology, starting a business he says is the first of its kind in the entire world.
Christopher Moore first tried VR with a friend's headset.
"Within a week, I got one myself," he says.
First, it was for just playing games. But it became more after his dad, Mike, got cancer for the second time.
"He was my hero," says Moore.
He originally recovered, but that time slipped away quickly until he died last year.
"We got another ten years with him," says Moore. "Everybody would always like more."
Thanks to his VR headset, he got more.
"I just wanted to try to find a way that he can leave a message behind for my siblings and my mom to try to help them through the grieving process after he's already passed," says Moore.
His idea, a virtual video recorded before his dad died, let his family grieve by talking with him.
"In my video that I have of him, he tells me that he's proud of me," says Moore. "And that, that alone, being able to go back and reflect on that, it's priceless."
Now, he wants to share that feeling with others.
His company, Moore to Give, will record a loved one with a 360 degree camera saying familiar things in familiar places.
"Words of encouragement or moral values or old phrases that they would use," says Moore. "It's not a studio. It's not a white room. It's home."
It's a feeling Moore says can't be described.
"If you never have to use it, you never have to use it," he says. "But if for some reason you ever had to, I mean, it's priceless."
It's also a feeling he knows his dad is happy to leave behind.
"I like to think that he's proud," says Moore. "I tried my best for him."
Moore to Give just launched on Monday. If you have a request for a video or would like to view samples of Christopher's work, you can visit the company's website by clicking here.
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