This life-size replica of a cow at the South Dakota State Historical Society furnishes an educational experience about dairy farming. Guests find out what it’s like to milk a cow by hand, and test their speed against a milking machine.

Because the project called for precise and seamless integration of many different components, many elements of this exhibit were produced in-house. Mad Systems molded the udders, and designed and implemented the interactive technology, including audio and sensors.

Mad Systems’ role in this case also extended to creating and editing video animations: a sequence that adds the cow’s head to the body, and an intro to cow-milking methods. In order to provide the best possible visual experience, the markings on the cow are the same from one medium to another: the video, the animation and the physical replica. The transition from animation to video, of the cow in its stable, is seamless.