Critterpedia - An App That Answers The Most Asked Question: “Is It Poisonous?”
Australia has no shortage of creatures that make people pause, and this story turns that everyday fear into a tech project. With spiders, snakes, and plenty of uncertainty, Nic and Murray Scarce saw a simple problem that kept coming up: people wanted a fast answer to whether something was dangerous.
That question led to Critterpedia, an app built to identify spiders and snakes from photos, much like Shazam identifies a song. The idea caught the attention of CSIRO, which backed the startup through its Kick-Start initiative and brought in Data61 to help train the AI.
The beta is already out, and the big test is whether enough photos can teach it to tell one species from another. Read on.
The app works on the same principle as Shazam or Google Lens.
The app uses user photos to identify Australian spiders and snakes.
Through users' photographs, the AI in the Critterpedia app identifies Australian spiders and snakes.
And if you’re wondering how bad it can get, Snake Island’s venomous, snake-infested isolation in Brazil tells the darker side.
Less than 50 of over 2,000 known spider species are harmful to humans.
Australian Redback Spider
The vast majority of harmful spiders are nonlethal to humans.
Australian Golden-Silk Orb Weaver Spider
Australia is home to 20 of the 25 most venomous snakes in the world.
Green Tree Python
Next time you spot that camouflage, read about the Gaboon Viper’s deadly master of disguise.
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