22 Dec 2020
Partnership project involving VetPartners, dairy farmers and video gaming experts aims to develop artificial intelligence to recognise a cow by its skin patterns.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Farm worker Brian Wetherup using the innovative technology.
Video gaming experts have been enlisted to help dairy farmers and vets to enhance cow health as part of a unique study.
The innovate UK-funded SmARtview research project sees Agri-EPI Centre and VetPartners join forces with experts at award-winning games developer Pocket Sized Hands, and Abertay University’s School of Design and Informatics.
The project is aiming to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system that recognises a cow by its skin patterns, and uses a “hololens” augmented reality (AR) headset to display health and productivity data about an animal as a user wears it.
Agri-EPI’s South West Dairy Development Centre is being used to carry out the tests, with the new system trialled by vets and allied professionals from VetPartners practices across the UK.
It is hoped SmARtview would make the process of examining each cow much more efficient and effective.
Rachel Dean, VetPartners’ director of clinical research and excellence in practice, said: “The farming industry is changing, and VetPartners wants to support farmers through this change by offering the best capabilities in terms of health, production and welfare.
”SmARtview has huge potential for vets and allied professionals, such as foot trimmers and veterinary technicians, who work on farms of all types and sizes. It is a unique and very innovative project that could transform the way they practice.”
AgriEPI head of dairy Duncan Forbes said: “The beauty of this project is that it combines farmers’ and vets’ experienced ‘eyes’ with real-time data: technology is being used to enhance, rather than replace, human skills.
“In addition, SmARtview could provide a solution to one of the key challenges of on-farm technology – while different devices like robotic milkers, sensors and collars can already collect plentiful data, its lack of integration limits insight to drive decision-making.”
Abertay is a world leader in applying games technology to the business, education and health care sectors, and the university is ranked number one in Europe for video games education.
Pocket Sized Hands will lead the prototype AR development and lend its expertise to the user experience aspect of the technology.
Abertay professor Ruth Falconer said: “This project brings together our research areas of AI, user experience and games technology. We aim to develop ‘marker-less’ technology that can achieve the difficult task of recognising a cow by the patterning of its skin and shape in an environment where it is likely to be dirty, and the light and weather conditions change frequently.”
