LONDON, Dec. 21, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blippar, the leading computer vision and augmented reality company, has today announced the launch of its new fine-grained flower recognition API. This technology uses deep learning to recognise over 400 flower species and genera. The 400 species have been chosen from the most common and popular types of flower found in the UK and the USA, both in the wild and through flower vendors
Blippar trained its leading computer vision platform to catalogue a dataset of over 200,000 images of common flowers found in the wild and in shops as well as several rare species. This technology is now available as an API for businesses to licence and anyone can test it as well on the Blippar app.
The breadth of data and the advanced use of deep learning enables the flower recognition software to distinguish between minute differences in flower species, matching the knowledge of an expert botanist. The technology reaches a classification accuracy of 91.65%.[1], making it the most accurate flower recognition software on the market and the one with the lowest number of false positives.
In the adjacent images, the technology can distinguish among flower species even when they differ by only minor details. For example the difference between the very similar Malva and Alcea flowers, or between Forsythia and Jasminum Nudiflorum.
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The technology can also distinguish between different species of the same family, for example the various types of orchids.
Additional photos accompanying this announcement are available at
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The Blippar technology also differentiates between different kinds of lilies.
Additional photos accompanying this announcement are available at
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The API currently recognizes the most prominent flower in an image, with a few more advanced features available on demand. These include recognizing multiple flowers in an image, as well as localising their position within the image.
Notoriously difficult to describe using text-based search, the development of visual search for flowers means that budding gardeners, florists, visitors to botanical gardens and anyone interested in flowers will have their curiosity satisfied quickly and easily.
This is the latest step in Blippar’s aim to catalogue and index the entire physical world, and to create a visual search tool enabling smartphones to see the world like humans do.
The technology was developed by Blippar’s specialist team of computer vision experts based in London. As the UK government seeks to establish the country as a leading hub for the development of artificial intelligence, the advances made by Blippar and other computer vision pioneers are critical to the creation of a thriving AI ecosystem.
Ambarish Mitra, CEO & Co-Founder of Blippar, commented: “This launch is another stride forward in our mission to break down the barriers between the physical and the digital world. One of the key utilitarian use cases of computer vision is flower recognition and that of nature in general. Words are not enough to describe many of the things we see in nature and this is where this technology answers a gap. Our flower recognition technology now matches the accuracy and knowledge of an experienced botanist, allowing users to access information on the plants and flowers surrounding them in their day-to-day lives. This is another testament to our pioneering experts in computer vision and an indication of the future impact augmented reality is set to have on our everyday experiences. ”
This technology is released after the recent launch of Blippar’s AR City technology, which uses Blippar’s computer vision technology united with augmented reality to provide greater accuracy than traditional GPS alone and enable users to access information and content as they navigate and travel around cities.
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About Blippar
Blippar is a leading technology company that specialises in Augmented Reality and Computer Vision, a cutting-edge field within Artificial Intelligence (AI) that trains lenses to recognise and understand the world they see. By harnessing the power of its technology and data, Blippar's mission is to be the bridge that brings the digital and physical worlds together, enhancing everyday life.
Since launching in the UK in 2011, Blippar's technology has been used by world-leading brands such as PepsiCo, Porsche, Nestlé, L'Oréal, GSK, General Mills and Procter & Gamble to create exciting and award-winning experiences which deepen consumer engagement.
With a focus on its two core technologies, augmented reality and computer vision, Blippar has created a range of products that can be harnessed across a wide range of sectors.
Blippar has been named on the CNBC Disruptor 50 list for three years running, most recently earlier this year. To learn more, visit https://blippar.com and download the app which showcases the technology on get.blippar.com (Available on iOS and Android).
[1] Based on tests on over 40,000 held-out images