MANILA, Philippines – While virtual reality is popular as a means of allowing people to entertain themselves through games, it can also be used to let people go to far-flung places they normally wouldn’t be able to reach.

In the case of Frank Mouqué, a World War II veteran who fought to liberate towns in the European theater from Nazi occupation, virtual reality allowed him to revisit Armentières in North France – the town he liberated back in the day.

Creative marketplace Twine.fm traveled to Armentières, and with help from the Royal Hospital Chelsea, set up a presentation that would let Mouqué see the town again after 72 years. 

The VR experience, Twine.fm said on its November 6 video, let him go back “to Armentières to stand in the town square, hear local children sing the town song, listen to life-long Armentières residents who remember the Allied forces’ arrival, and have an audience with the Mayor of Armentières, who presents Frank with the town’s highest honor: the medal of the town.”

It’s a touching way to use VR, and definitely a heartfelt way to let someone return to a place of intense personal significance to them. – Rappler.com