---
title: "Ever Wanted to Experience Death? Now You Can—in Virtual Reality"
description: "An attraction in China offers users the unique, and somewhat controversial, experience of living through a virtual cremation and learning what it's like to die."
date: "2016-04-03"
modified: "2016-04-03"
authors:
  - name: "Jolene Creighton"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jolene-creighton"
url: "https://futurism.com/ever-wanted-experience-death-now-can-virtual-reality"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
  - "Virtual Reality"
tags:
  - "cremation"
  - "death"
  - "virtual reality"
---

# Ever Wanted to Experience Death? Now You Can—in Virtual Reality

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/fire-09.jpg>)
*d89a1438-d89b-40be-8df3-dbd7993fa694 \<em\>Image: \<a href="http://depositphotos.com/7647646/stock-photo-fire-flames.html" target="\_blank"\>DepositPhotos \</a\>\</em\>*

When it comes to death, most feel a torrent of emotions that are decidedly unpleasant—fear, worry, trepidation, and often outright terror. Indeed, most would likely agree that death is something that a vast majority of people would *really* prefer to avoid.

As such, it may come as a bit of a surprise to know that one company is working to allow people to experience death first hand...without *actually* dying, that is.

[A new attraction in Shanghai](<http://news.sky.com/story/1671898/virtual-cremation-offers-death-experience>) gives people the chance to experience "death and rebirth." That might not sound so bad, but what you are really experiencing is a jaunt through a mock-up cremation chamber—simulated flames and all.

But in truth, there really isn't anything dangerous about the experience.

After going through (the horror) of your mock cremation, you emerge from a small circular hole totally unscathed (unless you happen to have a heart attack or something, of course). You can give it a look in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1VemRbWlQk

[Speaking to Sky News](<http://news.sky.com/story/1671898/virtual-cremation-offers-death-experience>), Lu Siwei, one of the "lucky" people to have already gone through the chamber, asserts that the experience is actually rather invigorating. He states, "This is a really interesting feeling. It at least gives you the chance to calm down, and brings you back to earth to think about some of life's problems....When you walk through that door, you will experience some changes in your mentality, and it will be different from what it was before you entered."

Rather than being horrifying, Siwei asserts that the experience is simply transformative. "I think this is really great, and very worthwhile."

I, for one, do not welcome our new virtual reality-like cremation overlord.

### Author social links  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/jolene.creighton>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolenecreighton>)  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/sciencejolene>)