With Microsoft continually rolling out major innovations for its big products — Surface tablets, fitness trackers and phones, to name a few — today, the company decided to have a bit more fun with a new app.
Microsoft has unveiled Fetch!, an app that uses artificial intelligence to recognizes dogs and classifies them by breed.
Currently available on the iPhone or desktop, users just need to snap a picture of a dog, upload it and Microsoft should be able to determine the breed.
So, if you have an image of a dalmatian, Microsoft will not only recognize it but will also provide information about the breed’s personality and what types of people would be best suited for the canine type. It even attempts to detect mutts, providing users a percentage breakdown of what breeds could be in the dog.
For those that want to try and trick the app by uploading an image of say a flower, Fetch! will call them out. Or for those that can’t resist snapping a picture of themselves, the app will turn the user into a dog caricature.
Image via Business Insider
The app was developed by Microsoft Garage, an “outlet for experimental projects,” and is also responsible for HowOld.net, TwinsOrNot.net, MyMoustache.net and Mimicker Alarm, with the goal to innovate machine-learning technology.
While it is in its early stages (it has misidentified a cat as a dog), the company is encouraging user feedback to improve the app.
“A feedback feature is built into the app. So if you’re sure your dog is one thing when the app says it’s another, send us that info. Every image improves it.” Chris O’Prey, another software development engineer with the Fetch! team, said in a blog post.
Here is a quick tutorial on how to use it:
