ÉRIA 1.0 - EcoRegistros AI Assistant for Species Identification
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Index
IntroductionÉRIA is the AI Assistant of EcoRegistros designed to automatically identify species from photographs. It is a system entirely developed by EcoRegistros, with no reliance on external services, sponsors, or institutional funding. Its training is based exclusively on our own database, without incorporating material from external sources. Main features of ÉRIA 1.0:
Furthermore, in areas without signal, identification and recording can continue normally. All records are stored locally and can be published later using the “Synchronize” option. How it worksÉRIA operates through an artificial intelligence engine trained with real images validated by the EcoRegistros community. When a photo is selected or taken in the APP, the system processes the image and compares it with thousands of previously classified examples to determine the most accurate species. The entire process takes just a few seconds and follows this basic flow:
When publishing the record, the user can choose to manually add more data to the record, such as number of specimens, comments, sex, and life stage of the specimen. If there is no internet connection, the system saves the record and image on the device. Later, when the connection is restored, all pending content can be synchronized with a single tap. Screen examples
Where is it used?ÉRIA is currently integrated into the official EcoRegistros APP, available for Android. It is mainly aimed at naturalists, birdwatchers, wildlife and plant photographers, or anyone who wants to identify species in nature from an image. Some typical usage scenarios:
In summary, ÉRIA is an innovative and accessible tool for everyone who wants to learn more about the biodiversity around them. Being integrated into the official EcoRegistros APP, it allows fast and simple species identification, both in the field and from home. Thanks to its offline functionality, educational focus, and ease of use, ÉRIA becomes a key ally for naturalists, enthusiasts, researchers, and educators, promoting knowledge and conservation of nature anywhere, anytime. What options does it offer?ÉRIA allows the automatic identification of species belonging to the main groups that have a sufficient number of validated photographic records in our database. This first version focuses on the following groups: Available groups for identification:
These groups were selected because they exceed the minimum image threshold needed for effective AI model training. For now, observations from other groups cannot be identified automatically, as they still lack a sufficient number of photographic records. We invite the entire community to continue publishing records with photographs! The more images we have, the greater the system’s accuracy and the more groups we can incorporate in future versions of ÉRIA. Quick record publicationOne of ÉRIA’s most outstanding features is its ability to complete and publish records with a single tap when the species identification is considered reliable. How does it work? When you take or select a photo from the APP, ÉRIA processes the image and attempts to identify the species using artificial intelligence. If the result is accurate enough, the app allows you to submit the full record with a single tap, including:
Recommendations: Even when the system automatically fills in the required fields, it is recommended to:
These additional options enrich the records and improve the quality of the database. Offline FunctionalityÉRIA is designed to work even when the device does not have Internet access, which is common during field trips or in rural areas. How is it used? ÉRIA can identify species even without an internet connection. The system automatically detects when you're offline and lets you record observations as usual. Instead of sending them right away, the data and photo are saved locally and will appear in the Sync module when you're back online.
When the device regains connection, simply go to the Sync module and press the "Sync" button. The system will automatically publish all pending records one by one, including their respective photos. Advantages:
Audio ControlÉRIA has an integrated voice that accompanies each identification with spoken messages expressing its confidence level in a fun and friendly way. With a mix of playfulness and warmth, the assistant not only reports the result but also interacts with the user in an engaging manner, making each identification a more entertaining and human experience within the APP. Confidence expressed by voice:
Languages ÉRIA speaks the three available languages: Spanish, English, and Portuguese. All audio functions, spoken messages, buttons, texts, and species names are fully adapted and available in these three languages to provide the best experience and ease of use for all users. Manual control:
Note: Audio is enabled by default but can be easily muted if a more discreet or silent use of the APP is preferred. Image Gallery of the AppThe new image gallery is a module that organizes and displays all the photos taken from within the APP, either during an identification with ÉRIA or when publishing a record directly. This feature allows easy review of both the original images and their compressed or cropped versions. Image origin:
Image versions: Each photo can be generated and stored in up to three different versions:
Quick and organized access: The gallery displays these images grouped by "ÉRIA" or "EcoRegistros", making it easy to access and manage the evidence recorded through the APP. Identification WarningThe identifications provided by ÉRIA are automated suggestions based on artificial intelligence and should therefore not be considered definitive identifications. It is important to consider that:
We recommend complementing automatic identifications with personal observations, expert consultations, or bibliographic references to ensure proper identification. How to help ÉRIA identify more species?ÉRIA learns from the images published on EcoRegistros. If a species is not correctly identified, the best way to help improve the system is to publish new photos of that species. To help the system keep improving:
There is no need to send screenshots or manual error reports to the technical team: ÉRIA does not improve through reports, but learns directly from the images published in the EcoRegistros database. Your contribution with new photos is key for ÉRIA to continue growing and recognizing more and more species with greater confidence. How to financially support ÉRIA?ÉRIA is a very ambitious project that, until now, has been developed by a single person and trained on a single server. To be able to process and keep ÉRIA’s training up to date, much more work and more servers are needed. Currently, ÉRIA is only available on Android, but to extend it to iOS and the EcoRegistros website, we need more financial resources, which are not cheap. Help this project grow and become an increasingly useful and easy-to-use tool for registering species of every group in the field. To contribute, please visit this page. Last updated on 25/05/2025 |
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