Australia, an arachnophobes idea of hell, is about to become significantly more desirable as a holiday destination due to the creation of the Critterpedia platform.
Australia has thousands of species’ of snakes and spiders, making it one of the most dangerous continents on earth to live or holiday on; however, this is all about to change as the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has teamed up with two independent entrepreneurs to launch Critterpedia.
At a basic level, Critterpedia is an app that allows the user to snap a picture of a snake or spider in order to identify whether or not it is harmful. The app uses artificial intelligence technology to scan the picture and sift through its archives to identify the species of the creature and make a judgement over the level of threat it poses. The app can also use a phone’s GPS to identify the species’ typically located within the area in order to certify the exact identity of the scanned critter using data that determines the prevalence of the specific species in the area.
The process of creating Critterpedia has been lengthy: the creators of the platform have had to feed thousands of snake and spider pictures through the system to identify different species’. However, Nic and Murray Scarce, the two entrepreneurs involved in the app, have said that this process was all worth it to prevent any more “relentless” questions from their relatives regarding the level of threat that each creature posed to them whilst on their trips to Australia.
Critterpedia users have been given the ability to contribute to the database of images by becoming a Phase 1 tester, which allows you to submit photos so as to test the effectiveness of the AI technology and the methods of identification.
Murray Scarce identified his hopes for the platform: “Critterpedia can create a world where people of all ages, backgrounds and status can appreciate and respect our environment, and where we and animals can peacefully coexist.”
With this new technology in place, it seems inevitable that holidays to Australia will become a lot more common and life for locals a lot more manageable.
