The famous cherry trees in Japan age, but a new AI tool that assesses photos of the delicate pink and white flowers could preserve them for future generations.
The “Sakura” season is feverishly anticipated by residents and visitors, with the profusion of the superb flowers marking the beginning of spring. But many trees reach 70 to 80, far beyond their age of flowering.
This means increasing the costs to deal with trees and maintaining popular flowering points.
To help the authorities identify specimens in difficulty, Brewing Giant Kirin has developed a tool called Sakura AI Camera.
It indicates to users the condition and age of the trees according to the photos they take with their smartphones and download on a website.
A five -point scale – only available in Japanese for the moment – goes from “very healthy” to “disturbing”.
A tree with healthy flowers that flourish densely to the tips of the branches obtains the upper marks.
The artificial intelligence tool was formed using 5,000 cherry images using experts.
The photos are then mapped on the Sakura AI camera website with details such as trees and location.
“We have heard that the preservation of Sakura needs labor and money and that it is difficult to collect information,” said Risa Shioda de Kirin AFP.
“I think we can contribute by facilitating conservation planning,” she said.
About 20,000 photos have been collected since the launch last month, the data available online for free for local authorities.
Worth a million
According to Meguro Ward de Tokyo, famous for its banks bordered by cherry tree, replanting a new cost costs around a million yen ($ 6,800).
Hiroyuki Wada of the Japan Tree Doctors Association, which inspects the cherry trees in major places in Tokyo, helped supervise the AI tool.
He said he hoped that it will help experts study the environmental reasons for the degradation of some of the trees he sees.
He partially blames climate change.
“I am very worried. The changes in the environment are generally progressive, but now it’s visible,” he said AFP.
“There are heat impacts, and of course the lack of precipitation,” he said. “The age of trees naturally makes the situation more serious.”
The Japanese meteorological agency said in January that last year was the warmest since records, like other nations.
Kirin began to donate some of his profits for the preservation of cherry trees last year, in order to “reimburse” the communities.
Alcohol, especially beer, is one of the drinks made during the “Hanami” parts for flowers under the trees, said Shioda.
Cherry flowers symbolize the fragility of life in Japanese culture, because complete flowers last only about a week before the petals start to fall from trees.
The season is also considered that of change because it marks the start of the new commercial year, many university graduates starting their first full -time jobs and their older colleagues going to new positions.
