Nov 27, 2019 10:26:00

Trying to raise milk production by letting cows experience `` virtual pastures '' with VR headsets

Dairy farmers have tried various ways to

massage cows and make them listen to classical music in order to increase the production and quality of milk extracted from dairy cows. Meanwhile, in Russia, it is reported that experiments are being conducted to allow cows to experience virtual reality (VR) in order to improve the quality and quantity of milk.

На подмосковной ферме тестировали VR очки для коров
https://msh.mosreg.ru/sobytiya/novosti-ministerstva/25-11-2019-10-07-55-na-podmoskovnoy-ferme-testirovali-vr-ochki-dlya-ko

Russian Farmers Put Cows in VR So They Can Chill-VICE
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3kxg93/russian-farmers-put-cows-in-vr-so-they-can-chill

According to research from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands, environmental conditions have a major impact on cattle health, and milk production and quality change with environmental conditions. Research has also shown that if the cow's emotional experience becomes positive, it can have a positive effect on milk production.

Therefore, some dairymen are making efforts to improve the environmental conditions of cattle by incorporating advanced technology. For example, in the United States, there is a dairy farmer that automatically massages cows by installing a massage robot using an automatic rotating brush in a cowhouse. There are also farmers in the Netherlands who use sheep robots to drive cattle and sheep.

Dairy farming is also prosperous in Russia, and it has been devised to install milk equipment that plays classical music and listen to dairy cows, and to increase milk production by its relaxing effect. And the Moscow Regional Agricultural Administration announced that it has developed a VR headset for cows to apply VR to dairy farming.

Cows wearing a special VR headset can experience the summer field with green pastures in the VR headset. VR headset is made by remodeling human VR headset under the supervision of veterinarian, considering the structure of cow head. Unlike human beings, cows perceive red strongly, but green and blue are said to be weak, so VR experts adjust the content to match that of cows.

The testing of the VR headset for cattle was carried out on a ranch on the outskirts of Moscow. As a result, the Moscow Regional Agricultural Administration has reported that dairy cattle anxiety has decreased and dairy cattle sentiment has become positive overall. In the second stage of the test, it is planned to evaluate the milk production of cows actually wearing VR headsets.

The Moscow Regional Agricultural Administration said, “If the test results continue to show positive effects, we will expand the VR experiment.”