Picterra Launches Interactive Tool for Building Artificial Intelligence Models

Picterra has introduced the custom detector, a tool that allows users of its online platform to build their own artificial intelligence (AI) models to detect objects in aerial and satellite images. The new tool allows users without any previous machine learning experience to create their own AI detection model and train it to identify their specific objects of interest in just a few steps.

The custom model then detects the type of objects defined by the user. It is possible to export these detections and incorporate them into any geospatial analytics workflow as a .csv file or in a variety of georeferenced formats (KML, GeoJSON, and Shapefile) for mapping applications.

The tool has a broad variety of possible uses: detecting buildings, tracking farming plots, counting cattle, identifying solar panels and many more types of objects and applications defined by the users of the platform themselves.

Swiss startup company

Picterra is a Swiss startup based in Lausanne, co-founded in 2016 by Frank de Morsier, CTO – with a PhD in machine learning applied to remote sensing imagery – and Pierrick Poulenas, CEO – with a background in international affairs and business strategy. The company's mission is to change the way we understand Earth.

In 2018, the company launched a self-serve online platform that makes the combined power of Earth observation and artificial intelligence easily accessible to everyone. In parallel, Picterra also offers Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS) to allow organizations to test and implement large-scale AI-powered geospatial analytics programmes without the need for a large initial investment in in-house expertise or infrastructure.