It’s important to cherish every moment we have with our pets because after they’re gone, there’s nothing most of us wouldn’t do to spend another moment with them. Daniel Esparza, a virtual reality guru, used his technical magic to create a world where he could be with his deceased dog, Sam, whenever he liked.
“She was my companion for almost 13 years,” Esparza told The Dodo. “She was a Labrador, very cute and intelligent.”
After Daniel learned he didn’t have much time left with Sam, he planned to take her to the beach for a final vacation. Sadly, she passed before he could make it happen. “She fell asleep one day and didn’t wake up,” he said.
However, there was a way they could be together. Before Sam’s passing, Daniel made a 3D scan of her sleeping. Daniel then created a virtual world where Sam lives on a beach so they could spend time together.
Daniel posted a video of Sam’s virtual forever home on X, and it went viral, earning over 650,000 views. One commenter asked if being able to see Sam in virtual reality helped with his grief.
“It feels nice to have that kind of backup memory where you can see her like if she’s sleeping, it’s different from a photo because you can see it in real size in VR, almost like if it’s right there,” Daniel replied. “Also, in the future, I can share this memory with my kids or grandchildren.”
In late October, Daniel got a new dog, a German Shepard named Sunny.
