Pl@ntNet, the app created by researchers in Montpellier to identify plants
What is this plant called? For several years now, thanks to the work of researchers in Montpellier, your phone can give you the answer via the Pl@ntNet app. This technological innovation was recognized with the Inria Prize, awarded by the French Academy of Sciences.
Pl@ntNet is a digital tool that allows users to identify plants from photos: users take a photo of the plant or flower they are interested in and send it to the app downloaded to their cell phone, receiving an immediate response.
Developed in Montpellier since 2009 by CIRAD, INRA, INRIA, and IRD, in collaboration with the Tela Botanica association and supported by Agropolis Fondation, this application was launched in 2013.
Its goal: to enable the identification of tens of thousands of plants around the world.
The success of a participatory application
Three years after its launch in 2016, this tool dedicated to the recognition of wild plantshad already been downloaded more than 2 million times on smartphones!
A year later, in 2017, the app had been downloaded in more than 170 countries, and its dataset included more than 545,000 images of approximately 11,000 species.
This popular success can be explained by the fact that it is free, but also because the application is open to everyone: you don't need to be a professional botanist to participate; anyone can contribute to the site by sending in their own photos of identified plants.
Many plant lovers have gotten involved, both in Hérault and around the world. Over the years, the image database has grown and the plant recognition algorithm has improved.
Awarded by the Academy of Sciences for its 10 years
For its 10th anniversary, the collaborative platform received a wonderful gift: the Inria – Académie des sciences – Dassault Systèmes Innovation Award, which recognizes major innovations and advances in digital science and technology.
"Pl@ntNet is undoubtedly one of the most important technological innovations of recent years."
Inria-Academy of Sciences
"It is the result of an extraordinary scientific journey, at the crossroads of digital sciences, life sciences, and citizen science," reads the Inria-Académie des sciences website.
According to thewebsite, more than ten million people worldwide now use it, including hundreds of thousands of farmers and natural area managers.
20,000 euros for six winning researchers
Alexis Joly, research director at Inria Sophia Antipolis Méditerranée and member of the Montpellier University/CNRS team, is delighted:
"This award is one of the most prestigious in France! It's a wonderful reward after 10 years of hard work."
Alexis Joly, Director of Research, Inria
But what matters most to this researcher, one of six winners sharing this innovation award, is the fact that this app contributes to environmental education, firstly because it is used by a large number of teachers in the classroom and on nature outings with their students, but also and above all because it helps combat the use of pesticides:
“It is useful in agroecology: when we identify a crop aid, a plant that is beneficial to crop growth or protection, practices evolve.”
Congratulations to the Pl@ntNet team for this initiative and this award!