The Austrian company Swarovski Optik has been innovating in long-range optical instruments for 75 years. Now, like so many other well-established companies these days, it’s dipping into the world of artificial intelligence to enhance its latest product.
Earlier this year, the company released the AX Visio, a pair of AI-powered binoculars codeveloped with the famed Australian industrial designer Marc Newson. These are the world’s first pair of AI binoculars, the company claims, with an onboard computer that can identify nearly any bird you point them at. They have a built-in camera and use computer vision software to ID over 9,000 bird species in real time. They can also identify some mammals and insects, making them possible the most useful binoculars for observing wildlife.
The AX Visio are available now and are unlike anything else on the market, and that uniqueness comes with a hefty price tag: A pair will set you back €4,600, which is a little over $5,000.
The AX Visio have an onboard computer that can identify nearly any bird you point them at.
Courtesy of Swarovski Optik
Got Some ID?
Identifying animals in the wilderness can be a challenge when you’re experiencing the great outdoors without a guide and you come across an unfamiliar creature that you can’t recognize based on its appearance, behavior, or sounds. While the AX Visio can’t replace a guide’s knowledge of local species, anecdotes about flora and fauna, and a keenly trained eye for wildlife behavior, the device can give you some instant gratification by identifying various species. It has settings for birds, mammals, butterflies, and dragonflies, and it uses image-recognition models stored on software that’s installed in the onboard chips.
Bird identification in the field.
Courtesy of Lola Méndez
