How virtual reality helps reunite families

Meet some of the people reunited with their families by the Family Reunions Project, which shows them 360-degree videos recorded back home on VR headsets.

Laura Martínez

Laura Martínez was a senior editor of CNET en Español. She has lived and worked as a journalist in Mexico, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and New York. She was the founding editor of the U.S. Hispanic edition of 'The Wall Street Journal' and editor in chief of VNU's 'Marketing y Medios magazine. She is also the founder of Mi blog es tu blog, a daily commentary on Hispanic marketing, media and pop culture.

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Laura Martínez

July 27, 2017 6:00 a.m. PT

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Launched in 2016 by two young immigrants in the US, the Family Reunions Project uses virtual reality to "transport" immigrants to their home country, the place they cannot return because of economic -- or migratory -- issues.

These are some of the people that have been reunited with their families through this project.

In this still from a video filmed in Salcabamba, Peru, Mama Pitu, the town's oldest resident, at 103, explains how it has changed over the years.

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A grandmother in Iztapalapa, Mexico spends an afternoon with family she hasn't seen in almost two decades.

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Gerardo, from Virginia, takes part in his youngest sister's wedding in Poza Redonda, Mexico.

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Chalco, a sprawling suburb of Mexico City, has sent many of its immigrants to try a better life in the US.

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Marleny hasn't returned to Guatemala in over 15 years. She was able to see her mom and her grandfather in a recent "reunion."

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Frisly Sr., the father of one of the project's founders, hasn't seen his childhood friends in over 15 years. During his reunion, the feeling of closeness was so real, that he extended his hand to try to shake that of one of his friends.