Getting Started

Welcome to Conservation AI. The Conservation AI platform allows you to utilise AI to automatically identify species by uploading existing images, videos and audio files or by transmitting them in near real-time using camera traps, drones and other sensors.

Getting Started

Uploading Observations

Conservation AI aims to harness machine learning for various conservation projects. The conservation AI site allows you to upload your media for automatic species detection using our AI models. Using the site you can upload single files or batch upload files to create an online libary of classified data all in one place. The conservation AI platform also supports real-time uploads from devices such as camera traps to enable the real-time detection and classification of animal species. Further information about the conservation AI platform can be found here.

For image classification Conservation AI supports .png .jpg .jpeg formats. Images should be limited to a resoultion no greater than 2000 x 2000 pixels to obatin the best results.

Uploading Observations Using the Conservation AI APP

Conservation AI provides a desktop application for uploading batches of image and video data. The app is available for Windows 10/11. You need to have a valid Conservation AI account to upload data. Images are automatically rescaled to a resultion of 1280 x 720 during upload to reduce the size of the image (excluding drone models where the orignal resolution is maintained). Images can be assinged to specific projects and camera ID's. For video files the app will extract one frame for each second of video. Our models are trained to classify different species based on their geographical location so it is important to select the correct model to avoid misclassificaion. A list of models and associated species can be found here Conservation AI will automatically extract the date/time information from the files exif data. This date/time value will be used when generating the results. If the file contains no datetime information Conservation AI will use the current date/time for the observation.

Uploading Observations Using Camera Traps Drones and Other Sensors

Camera Traps: Real-time camera traps can be used to send images directly to the model for automatic classification (this information can be found under the Manage Equipment section in the dashboard). Most camera traps support the transmission of images using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocal (SMTP) which can transmit images in near real-time. Once the images are processed the results will be available in the dashboard. Click here for a link to our models. 3/4G and WIFI cameras can be registered and managed on the Conservation AI platform under the Mangage Equipment link in the Dasboard. Detailed instructions on how to configure your camera for real-time classification can be found under this section. Cameras can be grouped into specific projects while assigning your chosen model and alert preferences.

Configuring Real-time Alerts

A user can set real-time alert preferences to notify you when specific species or objects are detected in real-time camera traps. Alerts are automatically generated and sent to your nominated email address. Alerts can be sent to multiple recipients. Alert preferences can be set in the Manage Equipment link in the Dashboard.

Exporting Data

Results can be vied and exported using the Conservation AI desktop app. Exports are grouped by project name and can be saved as a csv file.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are new to conservationai check out the Getting Started guide to learn how to use the platforms features. If you have a question about the site, please use the FAQ below. If you need help using the site or run into any issues please get in touch using the help page.

What is Conservation AI and how is it different from other platforms?

Conservation AI is a platform which uses machine learning to detect animals/object in images (both video and stills) and in audio files for a pre-determined set of species (see below).

How does the Artifical Intellegence work on the Conservation AI platform?

All of our models have been trained using a transfer learning approach which means we can generate new models using a significantly reduced dataset. We use different types of Deep Learning (DL) models for different applications. For image recognition we use deep convolutional neural networks which are trained and hosted using Googles TensorFlow framework. DL models get better at recognising different species by training on large and diverse datasets. We continually retrain our models as new images becomes available. For each model we append a version next to its name to indicate what species it can detect, how many tags have been used for each class (species) to train the model and when it was trained.

Can Conservation AI process images and videos?

Yes, it can process all of these. Please note that for video processing one frame per second of video will be extracted for classification.

What species can Conservation AI detect?

Please see our current models here. More species will be added as well as regions depending on our projects.

Are your models updated to improve accuracy?

Yes, as more images are tagged we will re-train models to increase accuracy.

How often do you add new species?

This is very project dependent. Please contact us if you would like certain species added and can put some time into tagging these.

What is the maximum resolution of still images and video that I can upload for detection/classification?

While there is no upper limit we recommend keeping the resoultion to a maximum of 2000 x 2000 pixels. The Conservation AI desktop app automativally recales images during upload.

I have a large number of still images. Can I upload these at once in a batch?

Yes, you can upload large batched of data through the Conservation AI desktop app. Please note that upload time may vary depending on demand.

Can I upload both stills and video?

Yes. For videos we automatically extract 1 frame per second for the analyses.

I have video images from a drone project and would like to detect/classify animals in it. How do I get started?

Please contact us. We can then discuss options to add a project, add images, so that you an start tagging and we can train a model for you. Our lower threshold for tags per species is 1500. More tags are better but we can start at 1500.

I would like to help with tagging. How do I get started?

Please contect us through the contect us page.

I have still images from a camera trap project. Can I upload these to create a project and tag?

At the moment please contact us and we can then discuss setting up a project for you in which we can upload your images so that you can start tagging.

The service seems free now, but will I have to pay if I have a large number of images?

The Conservation AI platform is free to use regardless of the number of images you process. We ask that if you use Conservation AI in any of your work that you cite the platform.

How does Conservation AI handle images containing people and other personal data?

Conservation AI minimises the ammount of personal data we collect and store. However, some data is still collected. As an user, we need your consent to store your name and email address. Personal data, such as images containing people, within projects are treated with enhanced care and are only accessible to the data uploader and the Conservation AI team. In general, project owners are responsible for the personal data collected within the project. They should ensure any personal data collected in their project was collected with consent or in line with GDPR requirements, such as performing a statutory task or general interest. When our AI detects a person in an uploaded image or video file it is automatically blurred to protect privacy as shown below. Please note that no AI system is 100% accurate at detecting objects: