When we watched Foot & Mouth Disease ( FMD) move across Indonesia and make its way to Bali a few years ago we knew we had to apply our knowledge of emerging technology and agriculture to build something that might help our producers on the front line. We want to leave the planet better than we found it, and maybe this could help in some small way.
We’d love to hear your thoughts!
Producers use RemoteVet on their mobile to take a photo or upload an image of their cow. Our AI model then analyses the image and provides a real time prediction on if that animal has FMD or LSD. This allows the user to make quick decisions in terms of isolation and calling in the experts. Simple yet effective.
We know that early detection and rapid decision making when it comes to emergency animal diseases could be the difference between an isolated outbreak and a widespread national disaster for our industry. We truly believe this app could make a big difference, especially for producers in the north. And yes, it runs without mobile coverage 😅
An unexpected challenge was trying to get enough images of FMD and Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) to build our datasets. So challenging in fact that we ended up paying a veterinarian-photographer to head into the red zone in Indonesia to help us build our image library!
While the RemoteVet app has been in the making for a number of years, the Landline story centres around a recent project with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and InFarm, where we’re putting our disease detection AI into fixed cameras around properties. It’s a huge step forward in protecting our $40 billion red meat industry.
As part of this project, we’re now working on getting our algorithm to detect Buffalo Fly. It’s a common problem across Northern Australia, and by adding this feature, we can see how producers use the app in their day-to-day work while still having our emergency disease detection ready if needed. This means the app will have immediate value in day-to-day operations.
Next for RemoteVet is getting it into the hands of test users, making refinements to the usability and bolstering up the images feeding the AI model.
Want to get involved? We’d love to hear from you if:
> You have images of FMD or LSD you’re willing to share
> You’re interested in becoming a test user
> You can offer industry support, federal backing, or funding to help develop this tool