Product Overview: Flora Incognita App
The Flora Incognita app is a revolutionary, AI-supported plant identification tool that enables users to automatically identify over 16,000 (and expanding to over 30,000) vascular plant species using their smartphone or tablet. Developed by the Ilmenau University of Technology and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, this app combines cutting-edge technology with citizen science to enhance plant knowledge and contribute to biodiversity research.
Key Features
- Automatic Plant Identification: Users can identify unknown plants by taking pictures of specific organs such as flowers, leaves, or other parts of the plant. The app guides the user through an adaptive process, requesting images based on the plant’s growth form, current season, and already acquired information.
- Comprehensive Fact Sheets: Once a plant is identified, the app provides a detailed fact sheet that includes characteristics, distribution, and protection status of the species. This information is invaluable for both casual users and plant experts.
- Offline Capability: While an internet connection is required for real-time identification, users can capture and save plant images in offline mode. These images can be identified later when a network connection is available, ensuring functionality even in remote areas.
- Personalized Observations: Users can save their observations, which are displayed on a personalized map. This feature allows users to track their plant findings and contribute to a broader database of plant distributions.
- Multi-Language Support: The app is available in 20 languages and compatible with Android, iOS, and Harmony OS devices, making it accessible to a wide user base.
- Citizen Science Contribution: By using the app, users contribute to biodiversity research and the documentation of plant distributions. The data collected helps scientists understand phenological patterns, monitor climate change effects, and track invasive species.
- User Profiles and Synchronization: Users can create profiles, which allow for synchronization across different devices. This feature enhances the user experience by keeping all observations and data consistent across multiple devices.
- Educational and Conservation Value: The app is free of charge and free from advertisements, making it an ideal tool for educational purposes in schools, universities, and nature conservation initiatives.
Functionality
- Intuitive Identification Process: The app prompts users to take specific images of the plant, which are then analyzed using a cascade of deep neural networks on the Flora Incognita computer cluster. The identification results are displayed within seconds, along with a list of similar species ranked by identification probability.
- Location-Dependent Information: The app utilizes the user’s location to provide location-dependent information, such as the local protection status of the plant. This not only enhances the accuracy of the identification but also contributes to the documentation of plant distributions.
- Community Engagement: The app includes features like “Flora Stories” where users can stay updated with app news and interesting plant knowledge facts, fostering a community of users who are passionate about plant identification and conservation.
In summary, the Flora Incognita app is a powerful tool that leverages AI technology to facilitate quick, accurate, and informative plant identification, while also contributing to significant scientific research and conservation efforts.