ClassifyMe: A Field-Scouting Software for the Identification of Wildlife in Camera Trap Images

Abstract

We present <i>ClassifyMe</i> a software tool for the automated identification of animal species from camera trap images. <i>ClassifyMe</i> is intended to be used by ecologists both in the field and in the office. Users can download a pre-trained model specific to their location of interest and then upload the images from a camera trap to a laptop or workstation. <i>ClassifyMe</i> will identify animals and other objects (e.g., vehicles) in images, provide a report file with the most likely species detections, and automatically sort the images into sub-folders corresponding to these species categories. False Triggers (no visible object present) will also be filtered and sorted. Importantly, the <i>ClassifyMe</i> software operates on the user's local machine (own laptop or workstation) - not via internet connection. This allows users access to state-of-the-art camera trap computer vision software in situ, rather than only in the office. The software also incurs minimal cost on the end-user as there is no need for expensive data uploads to cloud services. Furthermore, processing the images locally on the users' end-device allows them data control and resolves privacy issues surrounding transfer and third-party access to users' datasets.