For a parent, the ability to be at the birth of your child is something that you want more than anything. To welcome your child into the world is the goal, and if you’re almost on the other side of the country, that’s going to be difficult, but Samsung has taken this challenge and shown a way for a father to attend the birth of his son under these circumstances.
As a ‘fly in, fly out’ worker at a mine in Charleville QLD, Jason ‘Jace’ Larke was probably not going to be able to attend the birth of his son when his wife Alison gave birth in Perth. Samsung however had other ideas with the Gear VR. Samsung setup a specialised streaming setup and a 360° camera setup in the hospital room where Alison was due to give birth and then streamed it across the country to Jace.
Samsung chose Jace and Alison from a casting call, and from this Jace was able to participate virtually in the birth of his child. Alison spoke about the experience and the relief she felt when she realised that Jace would be able to be there, albeit virtually for the birth of his child.
After we found out I was five weeks pregnant with our third child, we watched our baby grow, found out he was a boy and dreamed about what the future may hold. Then at 30 weeks pregnant, Jace’s contract roster was confirmed and it was more than likely he would miss the birth our baby, pending a miracle. But that’s exactly what we got.
We were given the opportunity to be involved in the Samsung project. Jace was able to see our son born & experience the birth as if he was in the room with me even though he was working away on the other side of the country. For me it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders knowing he would not be missing out on such a precious moment in our lives and we would virtually be experiencing the birth together. It has been an absolutely amazing, once in a life time experience that has changed our lives forever.
Samsung has produced a short film about the project and you can check it all out below. One note, the song used is All I Want by Kodaline.
I know im overreacting but… There are just so many unacceptable things to say about this situation.
Could he hold her hand while she was deep in contraction? Birth isn’t just an “experience” as a man, you have a job to do.
Its called personal leave and Australia has it. Fly in fly out is bad enough… this is not a cool precedent.
Yeah, you have a job to do and that job is to keep your family fed, clothed and under a roof. Jobs are hard enough to come by and fly-in-fly-out is pretty specific in the terms of the way you take leave. Why don’t you just view this as a couple making the best of a difficult circumstance instead of trying to lay guilt on them.
Show me one company that threatens the sack when taking personal leave tovattend the birth of their child and they’ll be on the front page of every paper tomorrow.
What’s next, VR funerals?
I agree. You have almost 9 months to get your leave sorted out. My wife is due soon and if she goes into labour while I’m at work I’ll up and leave my desk instantly. And my boss is OK with that.