Photo: Ministry of Agriculture and Food for the Moscow Region

A Russian Farm Is Testing VR Goggles on Cows for Better Milk

Moscow News
by Eben Diskin Dec 2, 2019

Dairy farming is an age-old practice, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for modern innovation. In Russia, virtual reality glasses are being tested out on cows, in an effort to improve the quantity and quality of the milk.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food for the Moscow Region, several studies have shown that the quality and quantity of milk produced by a cow is directly related to the cow’s environmental conditions and emotional state.

So, with the assistance and consultation of veterinarians and special dairy production experts, a team of developers is testing this theory by putting VR glasses on cows — the same ones used by humans, but engineered to fit the heads of cows, as well as the animal’s sight specificities. When the cows look through the glasses, they see a wide field under a summer sun, which is designed to put them in a comfortable, positive mood.

Whether or not these glasses will actually impact milk production remains to be seen. Right now, they’re only being used by cows on a farm just outside Moscow. The first test of the glasses, however, has already shown a decrease in the cows’ anxiety and an increase in the emotional mood of the herd as a whole.

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