ID APP LEAPS INTO THE UNKNOWN
EVER seen an insect, a plant or even a snake that had you stumped as to what it was?
Three Gold Coasters have developed an app for that. Just take a photo of the mystery life form and it identifies it.
Roberto Roja, Heather Palmer, and Mark Darcy came up with What’s This? after a snake handler visited their office.
“Heather came up with the idea,” Mr Roja said.
“It’s for people who love to travel, are curious about nature and the mysteries of the world.”
A year-and-a-half later, the trio have invested about $7000 each to create the app with an app development company, Davidson, who works with Apple.
“The app is for worldwide use. Anyone with an iPhone can get the app,” Mr Roja said. “You take a photo and if it doesn’t automatically recognise the image, it goes to Google and find it.”
“Everyone gets one free lookup and then after that, there is a small charge.”
The app isn’t just for identifying life forms – it can identify all manner of things, from watches with no brand name to landmarks and buildings around the world.
“The app’s great if you’re travelling, for education purposes or even around the house,” he said.
“We have a Facebook page and people have been posting pictures taken around the world.”