Cornell University together with Visipedia develops a site
that has amazing ability. Addressed in AllAboutBirds.org/photoID, the site
that's made by Cornell Lab of Ornithology has smart capabilities that are
generated by artificial intelligence technology.
Thanks to this technology, the site is able to recognize the
species of birds from the photos that are uploaded by users. Named Merlin Bird Photo ID, this site is a breakthrough in the world of computer vision. This can
happen because of the hard work of researchers group from Cornell Tech and the
California Institute of Technology.
In total, the site is able to recognize 400 species of
birds. The only drawback is, for now this site is only able to identify the
birds that are found in the United States and Canada.
Researchers have an opportunity to explain the workings and
results of this technology in the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
(CVPR) in Boston on June 8, 2015.
This site can be used easily, when users upload photos to
the site, they have to make a box-shaped area in the main image and then click
on the bird's tail, beak and eyes. The site will also ask users to include
details of where and when the photos were taken.
Once all required information is inputted, the site will
show off its ability, the site will search, shuffle and analyze a number of
photos taken by bird watchers, including database of 70 million images at
ebird.org and try to find some pictures that fit. As a result, the site will
display a list of the most suitable with the uploaded photos along with the
voice of the bird.
A professor from Computer Science at Cornell Tech said that
the technology in the Merlin Bird Photo ID is capable of processing images more
efficiently than humans. This tool is organizing, indexing and matching the
visual information in the form of colors and shapes.
The basis of this technology is accompanied with a learning
machine, so the more it is used, the smarter it will be. Looking ahead, the
researchers want to bring the same technology in the form of application that
can be used by the users in mobile devices for free.