Activist Group Risks Prison to Use VR to Expose the Grisly Reality of Factory Farming

Years ago in my keynote presentations I used to talk about a VR experience from Stanford where people could experience what it was like to be a cow as it was led to the slaughter. The fascinating conclusion they found was that most people deeply felt sad because the experience of marching to their imagined death was eerily real. It was one of the first times I remembered reading about just how powerful of an “empathy engine” virtual reality could be.

Now there is an article in WIRED magazine about a gruesome new VR experience filmed by an activist group that snuck into a huge Utah pig farm to reveal what the conditions for pigs are really like. It’s not good and very different from the VR experience promoted by the National Pork Board itself. This is the latest in a string of content from the group Direct Action Everywhere, whose members have routinely risked prison time in order to expose the realities of farming practices. Their approach is extreme - but perhaps necessary at a time when we are so disconnected from how our food is produced. As the demand for more transparency grows, we will see more examples of technology being used to help us glimpse inside the full life cycle of production.