Influence of dairy farms' characteristics and technological level on attitude towards augmented reality

The implementation of Decision Support System and data visualization technologies, as Augmented Reality (AR), offers potential advantages in herd management by enabling real-time access to critical animal data, enhancing decision-making, and providing training opportunities for farmers. However, investigating the possible spread of technologies in livestock farming is fundamental to understand which factors could influence the adoption of specific technologies by farmers. For this reason, this study aimed to investigate factors influencing farmers' attitudes towards the use of AR technologies, such as Smart Glasses for AR, in livestock farms. The research involved 18 dairy farms with different technological adoption level where the main discrimination technology was the Automatic Milking System (AMS). The study revealed that farms that use AMS generally had greater technological implementation and were more familiar with advanced livestock technologies. While both AMS farmers and Conventional Milking Parlor (CMP) farmers had positive attitudes toward AR use, CMP farmers perceived greater potential benefits because of their limited access to on-site animal data. The study concludes that augmented reality has the potential to enhance the efficiency of livestock farming data use, especially on CMP farms, by offering an innovative method to visualize animal data. While the results align with existing literature, future studies should consider geographical constraints, sample size, and temporal and cultural variations. Finally, it is also recommended to explore the interoperability of AR with existing precision livestock farming technologies and to address the main barriers to its adoption, such as cost and training.