Game generates training data for supercomputer mapping coral reefs
Game generates training data for supercomputer mapping coral reefs
Game generates training data for supercomputer mapping coral reefs
By Susan Miller
April 22, 2020
Summary
Game generates training data for supercomputer mapping coral reefs.
To get a better idea of the changes impacting coastal coral reefs, researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center are combining remote sensing data, satellite imagery, supercomputer-powered machine learning and crowdsourced gamification.
Multispectral Imaging, Detection and Active Reflectance provides real-time video from data on an object's reflectance.
The final piece of the puzzle is NeMO-Net, the Neural Multi-Modal Observation and Training Network for Global Coral Reef Assessment.
The machine-learning technology exploits high-resolution data from FluidCam and MiDAR to improve low-resolution sensing data from aircraft and satellites, Chirayath explained in a paper on the technologies.
NeMO-Net also features an interactive video game by the same name that challenges players to identify and classify images of coral.
Interactive tutorials train players on domain-specific knowledge, and the game periodically checks their labeling against pre-classified coral imagery to improve their classification skills, a paper on the project explained.
As they play the game, players' actions help train NASA's Pleiades supercomputer to recognize corals, even those images taken with instruments less powerful than FluidCam and MiDAR. The supercomputer uses machine learning to abstract knowledge from the coral classifications players make by hand so that it can eventually classify images on its own, NASA officials said.
As more people play NeMO-NET, Pleiades' mapping abilities will improve until it can classify corals from low-resolution data, which in turn will allow scientists to more readily see what is happening to coral reefs and find ways to preserve them.
"Anyone, even a first grader, can play this game and sort through these data to help us map one of the most beautiful forms of life we know of."
Reference
Miller, S. (2020, April 22). Game generates training data for supercomputer mapping coral reefs. Retrieved April 25, 2020, from https://gcn.com/articles/2020/04/22/nemo-net-coral-mapping.aspx