Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Photography
  3. News

Give Google a bone — Google Photos can now identify different pets

By

google photos
audioundwerbung/123RF
Dogs and cats are getting upgraded from objects to actual pet status inside of Google Photos. On Monday, October 16, Google Photos rolled out an update that expands the computer vision options to recognize specific pets and even particular breeds.

The “People” album that automatically curated from photos with faces is now called “People and Pets” because the program is now able to tell one dog (or cat) from another. Now along with tapping a face to see groups of photos with the same friend in them, users can tap a pet face to see all the photos of a furry friend. If you go in and type that pet’s name into that grouping, you’ll then be able to search for Fido from the search tool.

Recommended Videos

Along with recognizing pets, Google Photos also now can differentiate between a number of different breeds. If you want to find photos of a friend’s dog without digging through images of your own pup, typing in a breed name instead of simply dog helps generate more specific search results. The breed feature works with cats, too.

Related

While Google Photos can easily tell your Labrador from your St. Bernard, the program will have likely have some trouble if you own two dogs from the same breed. Google said that incorrectly identified pets can be moved to the correct folder, which will help the program learn the difference over time.

The update also allows for pet-friendly searches using the dog or cat emoji.

Google says the new tool helps make tasks like creating a pet-focused photo book or album easier, as well as of course finding the best photo to plaster on social media on National Dog Day. Google Assistant’s option to create videos of pets, first rolled out in May, is also simplified by the new pet recognition tool.

Computer vision and machine learning are part of several recent Google Photos updates. Using machine learning to recognize the best photos, for example, allows the program to auto-generate albums and create videos from related still photos, or suggest photos to add to a manually created album. Last year, Google said the algorithms had created 2 trillion labels that help users search for specific photos — and that was before dog and cat breeds made their way into the search tool.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary K. Grigonis
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
Google Photos now lets you search for text in your images
google photos

Google Photos has long been the go-to cloud photo service for many, and it's now getting a new feature that makes it even better. The service already allows you to tag aspects of an image so that you can find images later and group them together, but now it'll allow you to search for photos based on text in those photos. So, for example, if you take a picture of a document, you'll be able to search for that photo later despite the image not being tagged with that text.

The new feature leverages Google's experience in artificial intelligence, and essentially allows Google Photos to scan your images for text. You can use that text too -- once you find the photo you're looking for, you can use the Lens button to copy the text, after which you can paste it into a word processor or other app to use later.

Read more
‘Photoshopped’ royal photo causes a stir
The Princess of Wales with her children.

[UPDATE: In a message posted on social media on Monday morning, Princess Kate said that she herself edited the image, and apologized for the fuss that the picture had caused. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," she wrote, adding, "I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."]

Major press agencies have pulled a photo of the U.K.’s Princess of Wales and her children amid concerns that it has been digitally manipulated.

Read more
Nikon sale: Get up to $700 off select Nikon cameras and lenses
nikon d780 review product 1

Crutchfield has a huge sale on many different Nikon cameras with some of the best camera deals that we’ve seen in a while. With nearly 30 different items in the sale, the best thing that avid photographers can do is take a look for themselves. However, if you want a little insight before you dive in, take a look at what we have to suggest below.

What to shop for in the Nikon sale
Nikon makes some of the best DSLR cameras around with our overall favorite -- the -- available for $2,197 reduced from $2,297. The camera is perfect for both photographers and videographers with a 24.5-megapixel full-frame image sensor. Its rugged magnesium-alloy body is weather-sealed against dust, dirt, and moisture so it’s great for all occasions. The Nikon EXPEED 6 image processor is optimized for low-light performance while maintaining long battery life with an autofocus sensor module with support for 51 focus points. You just need to add a lens to reap the benefits with features like the 273-point phase-detection AF system detecting and tracking subjects throughout the entire frame.

Read more