GREENSBORO, N.C. — When the first Triad Honor Flight of 2024 takes off from PTI airport in Greensboro later this month, two videographers from a virtual reality company will be on board so they can film the entire day for other veterans.

Mynd Immersive says its goal is to recreate an Honor Flight experience for servicemen and women in the Triad and beyond who have mobility issues and will not ever be able to enjoy the whirlwind day, visiting patriotic monuments and memorials in and around the nation's capital dedicated to their service, in person.

Jessica Benson, VP for veterans, hospice, and palliative care at Mynd Immersive, says the company has recorded some of the monuments in Washington D.C. but has never had any of its people on board an actual Honor Flight. She will be one of the videographers on the April 24 flight.

"I am just so excited, I can't even tell you. I think that being part of these communities is really where that special sauce is," Benson said.

She expects it will take about three weeks to go through all their footage from the day and break it down into one or several experiences, each of which will be seven to eight minutes long.

Mynd Immersive has VR headsets in more than 100 veteran senior care facilities around the country. Once the April 24 Honor Flight is finished, they will be able to push their content to those headsets for easy viewing.

"When you're immersed in VR, all the visual field is only what we're showing you. You're not seeing your computer screen and then the birds flying around and doing all these things. You don't hear the ping of your phone and you don't hear people distracting you. You're fully immersed in that space. So that's the beauty of virtual reality, is that it takes all that other stimuli away," Benson said.

Original source: https://www.wxii12.com/article/virtual-reality-company-will-film-next-triad-honor-flight-on-april-24/60447433