After demonstrating a facial recognition system that works on cows, moo-chine learning pioneer seeks growth funding
- Reference: 1606468089
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/11/27/facial_recognition_for_cows/
- Source link:
The Dublin-based startup, which is backed by global agri-giant Cargill, is on the lookout for more funding to expand the use of its automation technology in the farming industry, [1]CEO Aidan Connolly told the Irish Times .
Founded in 2016 by brothers David and Ross Hunt, along with Robin Johnston, Cainthus proprietary software uses images to identify individual animals based on hide patterns and facial recognition. According to the blurb posted when the partnership with Cargill kicked off, it then "tracks key data such as food and water intake, heat detection and behaviour patterns".
"The software then delivers analytics that drives on-farm decisions that can impact milk production, reproduction management and overall animal health," [2]the company said .
The technology is said to be able to identify individual cows by their features in several seconds to memorise a cow's unique identity, recording individual patterns and movements.
To get the supposed benefits of the technology, farmers do have to kit out their cowsheds and farmyards, though. Cainthus brings cameras and computing power to the farm for around-the-clock visual monitoring. It uploads data to the cloud for additional processing and analytics to offer farmers insight into their operations via web or app-based dashboards.
It is not just bovine recognition that has succumb to the power of artificial intelligence. In the field of conservation, [3]AI has proved valuable in identifying whale sharks, zebras and other beasts to record their movements and numbers to help understand changes in populations.
Humans, it turns out, have gone the other way down the farmyard path. One farmer became a [4]famous neurological case study after a stroke left him unable to recognise people, but still able to distinguish individuals among his flock of sheep. ®
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[1] https://www.irishtimes.com/business/agribusiness-and-food/irish-start-up-which-developed-facial-recognition-for-cows-raising-over-50m-1.4418145
[2] https://www.cargill.com/2018/cargill-brings-facial-recognition-capability-to-farmers
[3] https://www.opb.org/news/article/artificial-intelligence-conservationists-portland-wildme-wildbook/
[4] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14640749308401064?journalCode=qjpb
[5] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Bovine detection grid
It's a Brave Moo World....
Mines the white one with the milk float drivers cap...
Will it help cheat at ...
... Bovine Bingo? Asking for a friend.
AI?
Could this be the first time that someone threw loads of VC cash at an Artificial Intelligence startup, only to later discover that AI stood for Artificial Insemination?
Re: AI?
VCs do tend to sp**k a lot of cash at money holes.
Usually in these reports its the other end of the animal that's more appropriate.
a facial recognition tool for cows
"Say Cheese"
The dAIry industry will soon be creaming it in, and you'd be wise to buy a steak in it as you'll be making money until the cows come home.
Must have been a slack day
Hmm. Cows wander round with unique ear tags, also activity monitoring collars with connectivity and may even have a passive tag in an ear for the parlour feeder to identify them. Has this project really been necessary? However with all these backups you can easily see how well it's working.
Maybe they are just convenient targets, there are plenty of example available but such as deer (wild or farmed) or even badgers, but non-farmed species are the better choice.
I'll get my coat, the calves need feeding and the food mixing for the girls won't happen on its own.
Bovine detection grid
One must milk the investors while you can. The bovine have already been optimized for that purpose. Next up, sheep to herd the masses.