Google Photos Can Now Name Pets Using Facial Recognition
Google has pushed the boundaries of its image recognition technology past the faces of people, and on to man's best friends. Google Photos can now automatically recognize photos of specific pets, and their owners can now let Google call them by their name as well.
Searching Google Photos for pictures of pets used to be limited to just searching for "dog" or "cat," whichever is applicable. Google has since extended on this feature by letting owners search by breeds and even by emoji, as Tech Radar notes, but there's really nothing like being able to search for a pet by name.
Google is listening, and finally, the company extends the image recognition feature of Google Photos to specific pets. As they shared in their blog update on Monday, Oct. 16, owners can now label photos of their dog or cat by name, and Google can learn their faces well enough to show users other pictures of their furry friends among their collection.
This feature is a boon for pet lovers who often make albums, movies, or photo books of their cat or dog. Word is still expected on whether the new feature works just as well with other species, four-legged or otherwise.
The Assistant view for Google Photos, which they have rolled out as early as May this year, now also covers pets in its automatic movie feature. Users who want a more direct hand in creating movies of their pets can just tap on the new photo group, add photos, and tap "+" to come up with a movie or photo book.
This video from Google shows the new feature that lets pet owners search their photos using just the name of their pets. This new feature has become available on Google Photos last Monday, Oct. 16, in "most countries," with more details expected in the coming days.