Austin Stewart

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  • Even chickens have their own virtual world

    by 
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    05.15.2014

    How much would you pay for organic, virtual free-range chicken breasts? It doesn't really matter, you can't buy such a thing. But Austin Stewart, an assistant professor at Iowa State University, really seems to like the idea. He's been traveling the country showing off Second Livestock, a concept that takes cooped-up poultry and grants them the gift of being free-range through virtual reality headsets and an omni-directional treadmill. The truth is, despite Stewart's stone-faced presentations, that Second Livestock is not a real thing, and it likely never will be. But it is meant to showcase just how much we rely on technology to solve our myriad problems and how it impacts our own lives.