What 'dying' feels like: People share unsettling stories post 'death simulator' trial

Despite all the technological advancement, scientists still can't explain what happens after death or if there is an afterlife, as some people call it. That seems not to be a case anymore as there is a 'death simulator' that lets users experience moments after they die and see for themselves what lies beyond the material world. This chance to face death is being offered by Artist Shaun Gladwell who allows people to 'die' through virtual reality. 

Dozens flock to experience death 

Gladwell brought his idea to his show 'Passing Electrical Storms' at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne where many volunteered for the XR experience with a deeply affecting, 'out-of-body' nature.' One of the volunteers who experienced it first hand explained with a video on TikTok that the people were made to lie on a replica hospital bed wearing the Extended Reality (XR) headset and given cardiac arrest. They also faced scenarios wherein the doctors try to resurrect them but they slowly slipped into mortality and transcend through this world.

(Volunteers wearing XR headset at the 'Passing Electrical Storms' in Melbourne; Image: Instagram/@nasitra)

People who retured from the XR-induced death shared that they remembered seeing a light at the end of a tunnel, and hearing voices of their loved ones and those in hell. The volunteers also said that their soul floated over their body that was lying on the deathbed. Since facing anxiety at such a moment is obvious, they were also provided with the option to quit anytime if the experience was too overwhelming for them. 

In multiple videos shared from the exhibition, people were seen lying with the XR headset with monitors beside them. Speaking to The Australian media outlet, Gladwell said that he now perceives death "in a different sense" and life "as being so dear", the New York Post reported. That might also be the case for the volunteers who must have had a change in their perspective after making it through the 'meditative and unsettling' experience.