生きものノート

What is "Living Things Notebook"?

"Living Things Notebook" is a web app that lets you investigate and record plants, flowers, insects, birds, mushrooms, and other living things you find nearby by researching them together with AI from photos.

When you send photos of plants you found during a walk or insects in your garden, the AI examines the image features and presents candidates for similar living things and the reasons why it considers them as candidates.

Rather than simply identifying something by saying "this is ○○," we prioritize providing clues to help you observe and explore living things yourself while comparing candidates and their characteristics.

Main Features

📷 Search from up to 3 photos

You can submit up to 3 photos of the same living thing.

For plants, you might photograph the "whole plant, leaves, and leaf undersides"; for insects, "top, side, and patterns"—by taking photos from different angles, you increase the clues available for the AI to use.

🔍 Display not just candidates but also "reasons"

In addition to the living thing candidates the AI considers,

• Leaf and flower shapes
• Colors and patterns
• Body characteristics
• Features visible in the photo

you can also check why those candidates were selected.

It's designed so you use the AI as an observation aid rather than "asking the AI for answers."

⚠️ Handles dangerous living things too

When candidates include

• Poisonous organisms
• Things dangerous to touch
• Things protected by law that require caution when collecting

that information is also displayed.

※Since AI judgments have limitations, please do not use this for decisions about collecting, touching, or consuming organisms, and verify with specialized materials as needed.

📝 Record the living things you find

The living things you investigate can be saved as "observation records" of when and where you found them.

By gradually recording living things you find during walks, trips, or garden observations, you can create your own personal living things notebook.

🤖 Google Gemini recommended

As the AI for investigating photos of living things, we recommend using Google Gemini.

If you have a personal Google account, it's easy to start using, so there's no need to build your own environment like a local LLM, making it easy to get started even for those unfamiliar with AI.

Additionally, Ollama is also supported for those who want to run AI themselves. If you run Ollama on a PC on the same LAN, you can also investigate living things using a local LLM.

Basically, we envision a usage pattern of "start with Gemini first," then choose Ollama or other options as needed.

Situations where you might use it

A flower with an unknown name found during a walk, a plant that suddenly grew in your garden, an insect found in a park, a bird spotted while traveling—

"What is this, I wonder?"

When you think that, take a photo and try investigating it with Living Things Notebook.

Rather than having the AI decide the name for you, get clues from the AI and observe and verify it yourself.

This is an app for recording such encounters with living things.