About AmphIdent


Features

Integrated Creation, Photo-identification, Matching and Management of Patterns

Automatic individual photo-identification for amphibians The software AmphIdent com­bines all nece­ssary functions for processing amphibian pa­tterns in one pro­gram. Individual pa­tterns are extracted from digital photos and pattern matching and identification is seamlessly done with the internal database. Most likely identified individuals are displayed. The pattern is automatically written into the database after the final manual decision with one click.

Batch Processing of Entire Directories

Ventral pattern of Triturus cristatus for individual identification. Through the use of AmphIdent Slider all pictures in a directory can be processed after each other. At the same time only pictures are processed that have not been worked with before. This way you do not need to take care which pictures you select for the comparison.

Almost Identic User Interface for all Species

Spot patterns of Triturus cristatus and Bombina bombina for pattern matching photo-identification. The user interface of AmphIdent stays extensively constant because of its modular architecture. All parts that are specific to a certain species are implemented in a separate species module, which is automatically loaded at startup and integrates seamlessly into the software.

Automatic Connection to an External Database

AmphIdent offers the possibility to automatically write processed pictures into an external database like MS-Access so that you can analyze the results from other points of view. To accomplish this, a separate database module is used which eases the adaption to your needs.

The default database in AmphIdent is a text database. This is a table that can be imported into e.g. Excel.

Additionally there exists a module for MS-Access, which requires a certain table format.

Extensibility through Plugins

Image processing of Triturus cristatus for length measurement. During the analysis process further plugins can be influential, in order to extract more information than simply the ventral pattern of an individual. For example it is possible to measure the length of the individual or determine its gender during the analysis process. This way a subsequent post-processing of pictures may be simplified or even avoided.

Display of All Ever Found Patterns of an Individual

AmphIdent offers the possibility to display all patterns of an individual that have ever been found. This way changes over time in the patterns may be recorded.

Plugins

The modular architecture of AmphIdent makes it possible to extend its functionality through the use of plugins. Even the modules for distinct species or the connection to an external database are realized as a plugin.

So-called Analysis plugins can extract further information from a picture during the processing. Currently the following plugins exist:

Species Modules

Ventral spot pattern of amphibian crested newt for automatic photo-identification. Crested newt module: Perform automatic image processing, pattern matching, and photo-identification of spot patterns of the Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus).


Ventral spot pattern of amphibian fire-bellied toad for automatic photo-identification. Fire-bellied toad module: Perform image processing, pattern matching and automatic photo-identification of spot patterns of the Fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina).


Dorsal pattern of Fire salamander for automatic pattern matching and individual recognition. Salamander module: Perform image processing, pattern matching and automatic photo-identification of dorsal patterns of fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra).


Analysis Plugins

Ventral pattern of crested newt for storing gender of individual. AddGender: Provides age and gender information of the individual to the software.


Ventral pattern of crested newt for storing length of individual. AddLength: Provides length information of the individual to the software. Requires a reference length, such as a ruler on the picture.


Ventral pattern of fire-bellied toad for storing health status of amphibian. AddAlive: Provides health status information of the individual to the software.


Ventral amphibian pattern for storing place of encounter of the individual. AddLocation: Provides image acquisition date and place information of the indvidual for the external database.


Documentation

AmphIdent offers full usage documentation for the pattern matching and photo-identification process in several manuals. Additionally, if you face any problems you may find the solution in the FAQ or in the manuals. If you cannot solve the problem, please send me an eMail.

FAQ

Manuals

If you are interested in the full manuals of AmphIdent, please contact me without commitment.