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Thesis
Wildlife Watch is an AI based program that implements computer vision into trail cameras in Harvard forest. Currently, trail cameras use motion detection to snap photos/videos of forest creatures, while leaving the classification to the researchers and students themselves. This process is slow and tedious and can take anywhere from weeks to months. Wildlife Watch utilizes existing computer vision technology to compile image data, classify the animal species/individuals, and create a “map” of animal activity. Implemented correctly, this can save time and effort for the scientists and students who can focus on applying the data to conservation work.
What are trail cameras?
- Small motion-capture cameras that snap a photo or start recording a video if motion is detected
- Created originally for wildlife research - tech from camera is used on home/property cameras
- When photo or video is captured, the camera places the capture into an sd card that can be transferred to your phone/computer
- Most cameras are wrapped with a camouflage type of design to blend into the wilderness so they don't disrupt wildife activity
Why
We chose to tackle this project because after connecting with Harvard Forest, we found out that they did not have any sort of animal tracking data nor did they have any trail cameras around the campus. We proposed the idea of having an AI system connected with trail cameras that will automatically track animal data for them so they do not have to start something new from the ground up. All they have to do it set it up and let it track the animals and then after a while, they can check up on the data that the AI has created. It would also eliminate the constant labor of having a human needing to identify what each animal photo is. That would be one of the biggest issues that a forest organization would have in starting to track their animal data manually.
How it works - story board
Progress
Progress
Prompts + Next steps
- Specify AI to the area - Harvard forest
- Set up trail cameras at Harvard forest campus
- Build archive of data - so researchers can access
- Expanding data base - making AI more accurate
- Adding more animals to it
- Connecting software to a trail camera - testing with AI integration
- Building UI for data mapping
Thank You