Virtual Fences Are Here, Are Virtual Prisons on the Way?

A company is developing a new virtual fence that would give livestock the impression of being in an unlimited space, while protecting the environment by removing the need for real fences and reducing the labor.

Building a fence might not seem such a big deal, but the process may take some time, requiring man power and building materials that may be not only unaesthetic, but also harmful for the environment.

CSIRO Food Futures Flagship is currently developing the new virtual fence, that enables the animals to be confined without using fixed fences and without them being aware of the restrictions, until they approach the limits.

It's all based on GPS, and it works in a similar way to a conventional electric fence for livestock, except that the fence is invisible. It is a major improvement on existing virtual fencing approaches, and will use electronic collars which emit a sound to warn the cattle when they are approaching a virtual boundary line.

"The boundaries are drawn entirely by GPS and exist only as a line on a computer," Dr Fisher said "There are no wires or fixed transmitters used at all. Importantly, what we're developing, achieves the same result as a conventional fence but without the need for posts and wire."

The manufacturers claim to strictly respect animal welfare requirements and say that they have almost completed the development of the software that identifies when a cow is near a fence line and which is the signal that should be emitted. "Signal timing and duration are based on the behavior of the cow, and the animals can learn about a virtual fence for the first time in less than an hour and avoid the fence boundary," Dr Lee said. "The cattle learn, by associating the sound signal with their behavior of approaching the virtual fence boundary which is programmed into the collars."

It's a really good idea, as it saves time, money and efforts for farmers, by being fully automated and self-sufficient and it can be continuously monitored by the owners of the herds. As long as it won't be used on humans, it's a good idea.

Unfortunately, humans have a tendency of transforming a benign idea into an oppression tool, and no one can say for sure that this technology won't be eventually used on humans, too.