Paul Snowden
06-09-2011, 2:13 PM
Thought I would post this as a new thread so more people would get the chance to see it
http://www.kwch.com/news/kwch-djr-tech-talk-iphone-app-helps-identify-trees-20110609,0,679485.story
Tech Talk: iPhone app helps identify trees
by Dave Roberts
KWCH 12 Eyewitness News
11:49 AM CDT, June 9, 2011
(WICHITA, Kan.)
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Can you identify a larch tree? Neither can I. Scientists put together an iPhone and iPod Touch app that allows you to photograph the leaf of a tree, and the app will identify what kind of tree it belongs to. It’s called Leafsnap and it uses the Smithsonian Institution’s database of leaf images. Since its debut, it’s been downloaded over 150,000 times.
This is not the first time an app allows you to photograph something and it tells you what you’re looking at. “LookTel Money Reader” allows people to photograph any part of an American bill, and it will speak the denomination. It’s advertised specifically to people who are visually impaired to help them know better how much money is in their pockets.
The software that drives these apps to help identify what you’re looking at, is similar in scope to the facial recognition software that identifies who’s in photographs used by Apple’s iPhoto and now Facebook.
The way it works on Facebook is when someone uploads a picture to the page, the software recognize the face of someone and basically automatically tag who’s in it. The user needs to approve that the tag is correct before it’s published. Apple’s iPhoto works the same way. Unfortunately, in this writer’s experience, I’ve had moments where it program shows me the up-close image of an elbow, asking me to identify who that is.
Obviously, nothing is perfect. I didn’t know who’s elbow I was looking at, and I don’t know what a larch tree looks like
http://www.kwch.com/news/kwch-djr-tech-talk-iphone-app-helps-identify-trees-20110609,0,679485.story
Tech Talk: iPhone app helps identify trees
by Dave Roberts
KWCH 12 Eyewitness News
11:49 AM CDT, June 9, 2011
(WICHITA, Kan.)
Advertisem
Can you identify a larch tree? Neither can I. Scientists put together an iPhone and iPod Touch app that allows you to photograph the leaf of a tree, and the app will identify what kind of tree it belongs to. It’s called Leafsnap and it uses the Smithsonian Institution’s database of leaf images. Since its debut, it’s been downloaded over 150,000 times.
This is not the first time an app allows you to photograph something and it tells you what you’re looking at. “LookTel Money Reader” allows people to photograph any part of an American bill, and it will speak the denomination. It’s advertised specifically to people who are visually impaired to help them know better how much money is in their pockets.
The software that drives these apps to help identify what you’re looking at, is similar in scope to the facial recognition software that identifies who’s in photographs used by Apple’s iPhoto and now Facebook.
The way it works on Facebook is when someone uploads a picture to the page, the software recognize the face of someone and basically automatically tag who’s in it. The user needs to approve that the tag is correct before it’s published. Apple’s iPhoto works the same way. Unfortunately, in this writer’s experience, I’ve had moments where it program shows me the up-close image of an elbow, asking me to identify who that is.
Obviously, nothing is perfect. I didn’t know who’s elbow I was looking at, and I don’t know what a larch tree looks like