This wizardry is powered by tight integration between the smartphone, artificial intelligence, a database with millions of plant images and user participation: The interactive app automatically recognizes plants from pictures that smartphone users have taken. It then pulls up the name of the previously unknown plant within seconds, along with a wealth of interesting facts about it.
The app learns from each successful use, improving its accuracy over time. At the same time, recognized species and locations are logged to create a valuable dataset for answering questions about biodiversity and species conservation. The free app is already being used by over a million people, from enthusiastic hobbyists to biology professors. The interdisciplinary project team behind the app, consisting of people from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena and TU Ilmenau, received the Thuringian Research Award for their idea this year.
A recent study found that nearly 54 million people in Germany – and counting – use a smartphone daily. At the same time, fewer and fewer people can identify or name the plants growing in their garden, in the forest or on the side of the road. This app does much to combat that trend. It effortlessly educates people and is also tremendous fun, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people are exploring the great outdoors. (gro)
