A new app to help people quickly and accurately identify the species of snakes and spiders they’ve encountered has been launched by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) and Data61 Imaging.
In partnership with Computer Vision Group, CSIRO/Data61 said that by utilising a photo taken with any smart device, a trained algorithm classified it and provided information on the family, genus or species of the animal.
“In order to do so, the platform required hundreds of thousands of images of snakes and spiders to be fed into the system to accurately establish Australia’s multitude of species, a sizeable and manual task uniquely suited to an artificially intelligent (AI) solution,” CSIRO/Data61 said.
Project leader and CSIRO/Data61 researcher, Matt Adcock said the visual differences between two species could be quite subtle, so a great deal of training data was needed to adequately identify the photographed critters.
“We’ve started off with an enormous amount of images sourced from zoological experts collaborating with Critterpedia, and have developed a suite of tools to help semi-automatically label these images, verify the information, and cross check with other data sources,” Dr Adcock said.
“The AI platform we are developing for the Critterpedia system considers not only these images, but also additional information, such as GPS location,” he said.
“Users can contribute to the Critterpedia system by submitting photos.”
“The more differences and variables provided will ensure the robustness of the identification and information system.”
Dr Adcock said people could sign up to become a Phase One tester, which let them download a beta version of the app and submit wildlife photos to keep training the algorithm.
He said that as a wildlife safety, awareness and education hub, Critterpedia aimed to provide better education and awareness for all Australians and could ultimately save human and animal lives.
Further information on how to become a Phase One tester for Critterpedia can be accessed at this PS News link.
