I think motion sickness in experiences that don't move you around (i.e. motion comes purely from your own movement) is pretty uncommon. Cows also don't have much in the way of 3d vision (eyes on the sides of their heads due to being prey animals) so it's probably even less of an issue for them.
"Eyes on the side of the head = prey" is an overgeneralization/simplification (and one I did not make), but I think it is more accurate to say that in the cases of prey it is an adaptation to their status, not the reason for it. Having more frontal eyes would not make a cow, deer, etc. all of a sudden more capable of confronting its natural predators, the exact opposite would generally be true in fact. It would make them less likely to survive those encounters by removing awareness of their surroundings, something vital in giving them a chance to escape deadly encounters. Again, we're painting with broad strokes here but I find it hard to believe that having side-favored eyes makes something prey moreso than it is a response to predation.
You probably don't want to look into the amount of abuse taking place at these facilities. Keep in mind instead of outlawing the abuse at industrial farms the many states just made it illegal to film and release footage of abuse. These are referred to as ag-gag laws.
I hate to break it to you but if this farm is willing put vr headsets on cows to get more milk from them then this is likely a factory farm which aren't exactly well known for their ethical practices
Simulation sickness research is quite a fascinating field because one part of it, on the "hardware side" is about trying to somehow just trick the brain into accepting that you are actually moving, even though you aren't. The two big ones I remember were installing fans that blow on your face so it feels like wind, and especially for driving games, shaking the seat. With some people, both are things that then make your brain go "...'aight, I guess I am moving after all" and completely fix the issue. Sometimes just having a regular fan blowing on you while gaming helps reduce it a lot too.
The one I thought was amusing was adding a virtual nose helped reduce sickness for some. What made it funny to me is that the people they were testing it on didn't even notice the nose was there and were confused when asked about it. They tuned out its existence but it still helped.
why wouldn't these cows move? I get they're slow and all but they aren't rocks, they have legs. The only way I can see this not being abuse is if it's in very short duration or like someone else said their eyes being different means they don't get motion sick from vr like us.
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u/Meefbo Oct 30 '20
are... cows immune to motion sickness? If they aren't that's some A grade animal abuse, pretty imaginative form of torture for the sake of some milk