Critterpedia - An App That Answers The Most Asked Question: “Is It Poisonous?”
Besides koalas and kangaroos, Australia is home to over 2,000 species of spiders. Additionally, Australia has nearly 200 known species of snakes, about 25 of which are considered deadly venomous. With such a wide range, one question often arises: “Is it poisonous?”
After a visit from their British relatives, who were particularly interested in this subject and unable to identify all the species just by searching online, Nic and Murray Scarce had the idea to develop an app that could answer this question.
Thus, Critterpedia was born. The idea was simple: use AI (artificial intelligence) to identify a snake or a spider from a photo taken, similar to how Shazam identifies a song after you upload a sample clip.
Australia’s national science research agency, CSIRO, loved the idea and decided to give them a chance by granting their start-up project support through the CSIRO Kick-Start initiative.
Well-constructed algorithms are key here, so the CSIRO Data61 team is now in charge of developing the AI algorithms. This app must accurately and correctly identify species, making it quite an ambitious task.
If you are not familiar with AI algorithms, simply put, it is the science of getting machines to think and make decisions like humans do by processing a set of training data. The CSIRO Data61 team is currently running a large number of images through the algorithm to help it “figure out” how to distinguish the characteristics of 2,000 species of spiders and 200 species of snakes.
The beta version of the app has been released. Current users can help expand the database by uploading their photographs to the constantly growing collection.
We can all agree that this idea is excellent; however, on the other side of the coin, if an image of a snake or a spider is not uploaded into the system, the app won’t be able to apply its “learned knowledge,” which is the main reason why this is still an ongoing project.
Putting this aside, altogether, this is a great way to implement AI in this segment of life and help people reconnect with nature.
This app will be a great help for tourists and Australians alike. By using Critterpedia, they will be able to enjoy the local wildlife in a more relaxed manner and always find the answer to that often-asked question: “Is it poisonous?”
You can also test the beta version of the app; just click here.
The app works on the same principle as Shazam or Google Lens.
Through users' photographs, the AI in the Critterpedia app identifies Australian spiders and snakes.
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
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