Image links to Treehugger Article
Instead of stringing or repairing long lines of fencing across lands that cattle use for grazing, in the future, ranchers may be able to use a virtual fence to keep their stock from straying. Anderson’s device, dubbed Directional Virtual Fencing, (DVF), locates the cows and can signal them electronically, steering them to a new location or away from a sensitive area. Both the open range and the cows benefit from the animals being moved periodically, but on large ranches, especially those without interior fences, it can be time consuming and difficult to place the cattle in the right place at the right time. The DVF manages the locations of the cows via a GPS signal, which allows for ranchers to to track their movements or to remotely change the shape of the virtual fence, right from their computer. Funny how this article fails to mention exactly HOW the device interacts with the animal. Is this achieved by shock? And should we not be concerned that this could be beta testing for humans?
Kismets' Oubliette 