\u201cWhen you are designing facilities for animals, you\u2019re trying to imagine how they would experience it,\u201d Kirk said. \u201cBut you don\u2019t know unless you see it like they would.\u201d<\/p>\n
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That is why the institute is using augmented reality to let farmers and staff from meat processing plants see their facilities through a cow\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Animal Eye Simulator<\/a>, developed by German software company Computer Output Management, uses virtual reality goggles and a 360-degree camera mounted on a safety helmet worn by the user.<\/p>\n The program mimics the panoramic vision of cattle, who can see more than 300 degrees around them versus humans\u2019 roughly 180-degree field of vision. The clearest point of vision is directly in front, while much of the cow\u2019s peripheral vision is blurry because their eyes are located on the sides of their head.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Cows also have dichromatic vision, meaning they can only see in shades of mostly blue and yellow. A red jacket or safety vest looks brown through their eyes. They lack depth perception, making steps or other changes in terrain difficult, and their eyes take a lot longer to adjust when moving from a dimmer indoor environment to a sunny day outside.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine you\u2019ve been in a building all day, and it just snowed, and you walk outside and that really bright vision hits you,\u201d Kirk explained. \u201cThat\u2019s essentially what cattle see.\u201d<\/p>\n These differences often explain why a cow might suddenly stop or change their behavior, Kirk said. The hope is that putting on the simulator can help a farmer or processing plant staff identify the source of the problem.<\/p>\n It\u2019s already helped UW-River Falls improve their facilities. While walking through the on-campus meat plant with the goggles on, Kirk realized the vertical metal bars used in their pens were disorienting for cattle.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we put up solid sides, and you can see through the augmented reality goggles that it\u2019s really easy to tell which way is out of the pen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Better animal management\u00a0<\/p>\n The idea of designing a livestock facility from a cow\u2019s perspective is nothing new for animal agriculture. It was pioneered by Temple Grandin, animal science professor at Colorado State University, in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n Grandin said she got her start by getting down into the chutes used for cattle and noticing how a shadow or jacket hanging from a fence post could disrupt the animals\u2019 movement.<\/p>\n She sees the new augmented reality tool as a way to get people working with cattle to practice the same perspective shift. She recently got to try out the \u201ccow vision\u201d goggles after financially supporting the purchase by UW-River Falls.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes people realize that the cattle see differently,\u201d Grandin said. \u201cThat alone is valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n Agricultural engineer Benito Weise had the idea for the augmented reality program after years of trying to use pictures and graphic representations to teach people about these differences in vision.<\/p>\n Weise said it\u2019s easy for people handling livestock and horses to miscommunicate with their animals.<\/p>\n \u201cOften we make mistakes and we don\u2019t understand \u2018why does (an animal) stop here? Why doesn\u2019t he go on?\u2019 and maybe he\u2019s getting aggressive, because our communication isn\u2019t good,\u201d Weise said.<\/p>\n Weise partnered with Peter Menzel at Computer Output Management to build the augmented reality program using existing scientific data on a cow\u2019s eyes and field of vision.<\/p>\n The biggest success is that the tool leaves a lasting impression with most users, Weise said, allowing them to keep seeing the world through their animals\u2019 eyes even when they\u2019re not wearing the simulator.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goggles alone do nothing. You have to change the thinking of the people,\u201d he said. \u201cThey do think, days after, weeks after.\u201d<\/p>\n The simulator also has settings to represent the vision of pigs and horses. Menzel said a setting for sheep vision is already in production, and he\u2019s received requests for other animals including dogs.<\/p>\n The company has seen interest from customers across Europe, including Germany\u2019s national insurance program for farmers.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are constantly training their members with the system to make them aware of how the animals perceive their environment and to reduce accidents,\u201d Menzel said, adding that there are between five and 10 deaths related to animal handling per year in Germany.<\/p>\n Menzel said they\u2019ve also seen support for the technology from OSI, an American-owned contract food manufacturer that supplies burgers and other products to McDonald\u2019s around the world. The manufacturer even highlighted the Animal Eye Simulator in a\u00a02024 sustainability report<\/a>\u00a0for helping it work toward its animal welfare goals.<\/p>\n Technology and animal welfare\u00a0<\/p>\n There are many benefits of keeping cattle\u2019s stress levels low, from better meat quality and milk production, to saving time and reducing injuries on a farm.<\/p>\n Ron Gill, extension livestock specialist at Texas A&M University, said there\u2019s also new pressure from consumers who are thinking more about the treatment of the animals they\u2019re eating.<\/p>\n \u201cWelfare is important to the general public as well; that\u2019s the No. 1 thing our consumers are concerned about,\u201d Gill said. \u201cSo if we can manage the welfare of the cattle better than using these kinds of technologies, I think it\u2019s a win for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the shift means going back to the fundamentals of caring for animals \u2014 what\u2019s referred to as animal husbandry \u2014 and to systems that utilize cattle\u2019s natural instincts.<\/p>\n In Wisconsin, the Humane Handling Institute is already using the augmented reality tool in their training programs for staff at meat processing plants. But Kirk said she hopes to also use the technology on dairy farms, allowing producers to improve their milking parlors and barns.<\/p>\n Since announcing the new program this winter, she\u2019s already heard from a number of farms, food companies and industry groups that are hoping to use the technology.<\/p>\n Kirk said even seasoned professionals have been surprised by how the goggles have brought a new perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of like, \u2018Oh, I\u2019ve been doing this for a long time, but I never realized why it was like this,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She said they leave with new ideas about how to make their own facilities better suited for their animals.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260223_COWVISION02-scaled.jpg\")
The view from the augmented reality goggles are shown on a laptop screen as WPR reporter Hope Kirwan wears them during a tour Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in River Falls, Wis. Angela Major\/WPR<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260223_COWVISION04-scaled.jpg\")
UW-River Falls students Gabby Huitema, right, and Megan Mosgaller, left, use the augmented reality goggles to see through the eyes of a cow Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in River Falls, Wis. Angela Major\/WPR<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260223_COWVISION03-scaled.jpg\")
Ashlynn Kirk, program manager of the UW-River Falls Humane Handling Institute, stands in a milking parlor Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in River Falls, Wis. Angela Major\/WPR<\/p>\n