Landscape Scenic Quality Can be Assessed Using Artificial Intelligence and Social Media

Nov, 2021 - By SMI

Measuring the beauty of an ecosystem and the well-being it provides for individuals can assist guide public environmental policy. Deep learning and millions of Flickr photographs were used by researchers at EPFL and Wageningen University, the Netherlands to create a new model approach for environmental evaluations

A new approach that incorporates people's aesthetic appreciation of a landscape through the application of artificial intelligence Their algorithm, which is based on 9 million photos of British landscapes shared on Flickr, can be easily replicated on a broad scale since it makes use of data provided by social media. The model is the first to incorporate insights into how people see landscapes on such a wide scale while maintaining as accurate as current techniques. The researchers trained a deep-learning algorithm using over 200,000 photographs of landscapes in the U.K. gathered from the Scenic-Or-Not database to create their model.

A crowdsourced poll was used to judge the visual quality, or scenicness, of these photographs, which comprised a geographically representative collection of the U.K. This method allowed the researchers to include elements reflecting how individuals personally appreciate landscapes, which are missing from traditional large-scale ES evaluations. The researchers then used their deep-learning model, which is derived on neural networks, to over nine million Flickr images, while also using other AI-based models in their estimates of beautiful landscapes. Finally, they compared the outcomes of their model to those of a more traditional, environmental indicator-based approach.

The model will then be tested to determine if it can be extended to other nations, given how diverse their landscapes and traditions might be. Researchers will need to devise a method for training AI algorithms using regionally relevant criteria. Projects in this vein are already underway in Spain, the Netherlands, and other European countries to promote environmental conservation measures throughout Europe.