Lots of organisms that are uploaded to iNaturalist are shunted into broad catagories such as unknown, plants, insects, etc. By implementing real-time computer vision, such as the one used in Seek, observations will be more organized from the moment they are posted. For those unaware how Seek works,…

This was implemented: https://www.inaturalist.org/blog/108940-new-inaturalist-app-for-iphone (the app will eventually be updated for Android as well)

Would observations that are submitted in this fashion be verifiable? If so, what type of evidence would be generated by this functionality that other folks then could review? A series of images taken at regular intervals? A video? A single image?

Yes, the identification would still go through the same process as any normal submission. Only one image would be taken during the real-time ID but more can be added, the same with any current observations. The main purpose of the real time identification is to help narrow identifications straight …

it’s helpful if you are primarily using the algorithm, because instead of taking pictures then removing them if the algorithm can’t figure them out, you can use the ‘live’ mode to kind of pan around an organism until you find the right angle, etc to get an algorithm ID. Thus i am guessing it would …

What’s the point of having two separate apps then? IMHO, I always felt that iNat app is for more experienced users, who’d rather not use CV in their identifications, whereas Seek is “play-around” type of app. Sorry for “bad” wording, not to make anyone unhappy. I’d rather not have RT CV in iNat - …

I’m not sure it would slow too much down, seeing as the seek app runs pretty quickly, and the CV would only run when the camera was open. And this function could be turned on or off, so if there is a plant or fungi that someone has no idea about, it won’t just end up in a broad category. I’m not s…

Seek doesn’t require Internet connection. That is one thing that would be nice with this, the ability to use the algorithm without cell service. I’m definitely an experienced user and i do use the algorithm from time to time. I learned most of my plant species from others showing them to me. If you…

Yep, I misunderstood that :upside_down_face: I didn’t really get into Seek, since it’s useless around “quiet” (in terms of obs) places yet. Attenborough got me installing it, but I deleted it soon afterwards.

[image] kastani: Besides, how are you gonna learn something if you rely on CV and constantly looking things up? The live CV suggestions in Seek are meant to actually a) teach people about the higher levels of taxonomy and b) help them take identifiable photos of organisms. If, for example, yo…

Real Time Computer Vision in iNaturalist

Feature Requests

Topic		Replies	Views
Easier access to "computer vision" in app Feature Requests android-app , ios-classic-app	5	670	April 6, 2019
How do I use computer vision to get instant ID? General	12	1440	July 31, 2021
Thoughts on identifications using primarily Computer Vision Model General web , question , identification , computer-vision	19	701	February 10, 2026
App IDs species but changes to family or genus in observation? General mobile-app	21	675	August 12, 2025
Change computer vision suggestions to only above species level Feature Requests	31	3068	March 26, 2019

Real Time Computer Vision in iNaturalist

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