Identify Your herbs, Fruits & Wildlife on the Go with this App The internet is calling it the Shazam of plants, but does the hype hold up?
By Rustam Singh
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Nature is a hypnotic place to be. Of course, there are chances that your businessman or entrepreneurial lifestyle doesn't allow you as many recreational wildlife adventures as you hoped would allow in your regular life as Christopher McCandless experienced in the epic story of "Into The Wild". But of course, everyone wants to connect back to our roots and go straight head first into nature, and when we do, it's a good idea to remember that at the end of the day nature is heartless and it's the survival of the fittest out there. In situations like these, it's a brilliant idea to have some form of reference knowing which of the hundreds of thousands of plants with which we share our existence work are. Of course, you may not be trapped in a survival situation where you'd want to know if the plant is toxic or edible, but it's still a fun idea to identify a plant on the go when you see it. Finally, there's an app for that and it's called PlantNet. Dubbed as the Shazam of plants, it helps you identify plants on the go.
What does it do?
The app works on using your camera and clicking a photograph and then comparing the scan of it with those it has achieved to reveal what plant it is. Backed by scientists from four French research organizations including Cirad, IRA, Inria/IRD, and the Tela Botanica Network who developed the app, the results are surprisingly accurate.
What are the potential uses?
From trekking to the great outdoors, going adventurous and exploring unknown places to even checking out some wild growth in your backyard, the possibilities to learn something new are endless. It's also useful to prove a point to someone if you're having a debate over what a plant is without having to physically describe a plant (which can be very subjective).
Cons:
The app is still in research period and there's huge potential for growth. Since there are hundreds of thousands of plant species discovered and several undiscovered still out our planet, it'll take a good while before the database covers everything. However, the community based app will be adaptive and clicking the contribute button will help the software learn and adapt to new species (after a moderation process). It also doesn't currently identify ornamental plants.
The app is free and available on Android and iOS. You can also click photographs of not just the leaves but also the leaves, bark and fruit of the planet species. Would you potentially use the app? Let us know in the comments on our official Facebook page Entrepreneur India
