#Merlin project wizard how to

Merlin is a collaboration between Cornell, Northeastern University, Caltech, University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, San Diego, including visiting researchers Serge Belongie and Grant Van Horn at the Cornell NYC Tech campus. If the technique is successful, future products could be developed, such as binoculars that help ID the bird in the viewfinder. вЂњOur goal is to enable someone to describe a bird and get intelligent guidance, the same way they might if they asked a knowledgeable friend.вЂќ вЂњBut search engines sometimes return confusing and even outlandish results,вЂќ she said. вЂњEach year, thousands of people try to identify birds by typing descriptors into the search box on the Cornell Lab of OrnithologyвЂ™s All About Birds website,вЂќ said Miyoko Chu, the projectвЂ™s principal investigator and the labвЂ™s senior director of communications. вЂњImage ShareвЂќ enables people to upload photos for MerlinвЂ™s database вЂњBest ShotвЂќ asks users to choose which of two photos has the highest quality вЂњBird CropвЂќ asks people to outline the birdвЂ™s image to help the computer discern birds from the background and вЂњHot SpotвЂќ teaches Merlin to recognize bird anatomy when users click on body parts in a photo. Some of the activities help the computer-vision program recognize birds in photos. Another activity, вЂњBird Color Challenge,вЂќ flashes a photo of a bird, then asks users to select the most prominent colors they remember. вЂњMark My BirdвЂќ shows users a photo of, say, a cardinal and then asks them to click on graphics to indicate the birdвЂ™s color patterns, size and shape. While bolstering Merlin, users also become better birders by learning which features are important. People can contribute through six activities at. We want the public to participate to help make Merlin smarter.вЂќ But Merlin also learns from interactions as users play with it.

вЂњIt starts with data, such as observations from the eBird citizen-science project to narrow down which species are most likely to be found at any given location and time of year. вЂњRight now, the algorithms are being trained to help Merlin understand how people see, remember and describe birds,вЂќ said Scott Haber, the projectвЂ™s digital content manager. Like a child learning new skills, this artificial intelligence program needs lots of input to become more accurate. The developers seek the publicвЂ™s help to train the program, now under development at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (with plans for a prototype later this year). If a photo is not available, Merlin will play вЂњ20 questions,вЂќ asking the inquirer about the location and date of the sighting among other questions before suggesting which species is most likely. When sent a photo, MerlinвЂ™s visual recognition system will help ID the bird. Soon, when you see a bird you canвЂ™t identify, Merlin, a new online bird ID tool from Cornell, will be able to help.

#Merlin project wizard how to

In the HotSpot activity, users are shown an image of a bird and asked to click on a specific body part to teach Merlin's computer vision system how to map out bird anatomy in a photo.