A collaboration between the Computational Ecology and Environmental Sciences (CEES) group at Microsoft Research Cambridge introduced ZooTracer at the end of February as a downloadable, easy to use desktop tool that could dramatically expand the amount and kind of data gathered from the natural world.
ZooTracer can be used to track animal movement using consumer video equipment. Video can be taken from anywhere and users can easily modify results. Inside Microsoft Research explains that the software can provide accurate tracking of multiple, unmarked, interacting animals. It can also adjust to variations in lighting, camera movement and object appearance — regardless of the type of recording device or habitat.
“Most other video-tracking software packages require the user to have thought quite hard about what they were going to do before they did it,” says Lucas Joppa, a scientist in the CEES group who heads the Conservation Science Research Unit, which focuses on science, policy and tools and technology. “For example, using extreme background subtraction algorithms allows for a heavily automated object detection and tracking process. But the actual collection of video footage appropriate for such algorithms can become a trying affair — and it certainly doesn’t work for most field biologists!”
Find out more about ZooTracer on Inside Microsoft Research.
You might also be interested in:
- Making a difference for eye health in India
- Microsoft Research Data Science Summer School now accepting applications
- ChronoZoom and zombies head to SXSWedu
Athima Chansanchai
Microsoft News Center Staff