A farm in Russia is equipping its cows with VR headsets to help produce better milk

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We assure you that this is not a long-delayed April Fool’s joke or a repurposed Onion article. And the picture above is not Photoshopped either.

Farmers in Russia have been strapping VR headsets to cows, but not as some bizarre prank. No, the farmers have good intentions with this. They are trying to improve the herds of bovines’ well-being and calm them while they are grazing on the field.

There is an official (Google-translated) press release about the experiment from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Moscow Region. It was reported that they got the idea from technology-oriented experiments on other agricultural animals in the Netherlands.

Employees of one of the largest farms in the Moscow Region, together with IT specialists, decided to conduct an experiment, having studied the effect of virtual reality, and developed a mock-up of VR glasses.

And, well, they found that the headsets actually did help the cows on the field.

So, this is what Russia is really up to? Strapping a VR headset to cows to monitor their behavior? What happened?

The VR headsets presented a summertime scene for the cows, which is a far cry from the cold weather that they were used to walking in. Because of this, the reports showed that the cows were calmer on the field. With their anxiety reduced, the cows also behaved cooperatively with the farmers.

Another finding was that, through the use of the VR headsets, an entire herd of cows had changed their behavior in a more positive light.

As for other strange examinations of cattle through VR headsets, Russian IT specialists are going to conduct future experiments on how it affects milk production.

What do you think? Does this seem cruel or are you ok with this type of animal testing? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Colin Barry

I like honey roasted peanuts because they are delicious. I also like the Metal Slug games and X-Men comics because they are awesome.