Give Your Pets The Weekend They Deserve!
New

Microsoft’s Launches New App That Identifies Dog Breeds

Ever ran into an adorable pooch and wondered what breed he was? Google may not be able to help every time so we’ve got just the thing you need. Enter Fetch!

Microsoft Garage’s latest app, Fetch! allows you to identify and classify dogs by breeds using pictures from your iPhone camera or library. It generates results from its roster if the photo resembles any breed in their database. If the dog’s breed is unknown, the app calculates the percentage of the closest breed.

Fetch

The team behind the app wanted to create an experience based on user feedback, machine learning, computer vision and intelligent cloud services. Mitch Goldberg, development director at Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK, explains, “We wanted to bring artificial intelligence to the canine world. We wanted to show that object recognition is something anyone could understand and interact with.”

All the app creators are dog parents, which inspired them to do this. The app database contains information about dog breeds gained from dog experts and kennel clubs to ensure the accuracy and scientific authenticity of the data.

Fetch

The classification of dog breeds was one of the biggest challenges during the creation of the app. A popular machine learning technique called Deep Neutral Networks, which enables the study and analysis of different breeds, is used here.

The app also allows users to identify a dog that would match with their personality. This feature helps decide which breed is ideal for would be pet parents and makes the app appeal to people beyond the pet universe.

If you enter a photo of another animal/object, a “No dogs found” result shows up along with a guess of what it may be. If you feed in a human’s picture, witty responses about which dog breed you are and why follow.

Fetch

The app has been crafted using intense research and intelligence. It comes up with unique responses every time you enter a human’s picture. The responses depend upon the outfit you are wearing, the type of shot and so on. You can even create a scrapbook of the search results and share it on social media.

In July 2014, Fetch! was launched as a Demo app at the 15th Annual Microsoft Research Faculty Summit. Now, two years later, a new and improved version of the app has been released just in time for the American Kennel Club’s Meet & Compete and the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Fetch! is available exclusively on the Apple App Store for free download. So, go Fetch! The app now.

 

Post a comment