Oculus Rift for caged chickens is like a Matrix for farm animals

Assistant Professor Austin Stewart from Iowa State University is proposing an end to the depressing, systematic lifestyle of caged chickens ─ not by setting them free ─ but by equipping them with Oculus Rifts and omni-direction treadmills before streaming their consciousness into a virtual world called Second Livestock, a play on words off of the massive online social game Second life. 

Strapping on a chicken-sized Oculus Rift allows the bird to walk virtual fields alongside other chickens, doing all manner of poultry-related activities; if the chicken found a tasty morsel of virtual-food while scouring the virtual dirt, then it would be rewarded with actual food in real-life. The idea is similar to what was put forth in the film The Matrix and can theoretically provide chickens with at least a semblance of living in an open field, even if it they’re confined into small cages.

No chicken has yet to test to system, although humans can do so themselves using a human-sized Oculus Rift and a yoga ball as a trackpad at the Art and Design Exhibition in Ames, Iowa, where the project is being demonstrated. The demo version of Second Livestock even contains a virtual farm, chicken, as well as bushes and dirt.  
 
Of course this sounds absurd, because in a large part it is – no industrial farm would actually invest in technology that costs more than the poor animal itself. Stewart tells the Ames Tribune that Second Livestock is not an real-life application, but a concept, a thought experiment to get us (the humans) asking questions. “The goal of the project is to raise that question of how do we know what's best, or what is humane treatment, and also to look at how we treat ourselves. We're living in these little boxes, just like chickens.”

Stewart wants to know if technology can be used to end inhumane treatment, or provide alleviation, and at what point do we become enslaved by it in the process of doing so? The exponential levels of immersion shaped by the Rift’s semi-credible VR capabilities are proving to be useful in many-a domain outside of entertainment, enabling bed-ridden grandmas to walk outside once more and helping old fighter pilots relieve their glory days. The technology is maturing from toylike novelty to something that can deliver a real value. It’s only natural to see how far we push it without compromising our humanity, or poultry.

Via SecondLivestock