Drawing polygons is more time-consuming than using simple shapes such as Bounding Box. This is probably what the majority of DataPrepOps specialists or Data Scientists. However, you'd be surprised to discover how much easier it is to create an AI dataset using polygonal annotation, and how much more time invested in the annotation process can optimize model training time.
Annotation with polygons is an important technique used for labeling, particularly when preparing data for computer vision models. Whatever model you're trying to build, it learns from quality data, and this polygon annotation technique enables it to better learn and classify various objects when we expose that model to raw, unseen or new data. But that's not all. This guide will cover everything about polygonal annotation and help you understand how it contributes to the creation of quality datasets for training supervised models. Read on!
What is polygonal annotation and why is it important for data labelling?
Polygonal annotation is a technique used in data labeling where annotators draw multi-sided shapes around objects of interest, in images or video frames, using a polygonal tool. This image segmentation process helps to define better images.
This method is essential for training machine learning models to accurately recognize and understand diverse shapes and objects within datasets. By drawing points precisely around the contours of an object, polygonal annotations can handle irregular shapes better than bounding boxes.
This annotation method is widely used in autonomous vehicle technology, satellite image analysis and medical image analysis and diagnosis, where extreme precision is vital.
As machines become an integral part of our daily lives, the importance of polygonal annotation in improving the training of Computer Vision models and ensuring the reliability of AI systems continues to grow.
Why should you use polygonal annotation tools and techniques in your annotation processes?
Polygonal annotation should be employed for its superior accuracy in identifying complex shapes within a dataset. Unlike simple bounding boxes, which can include irrelevant background data, polygonal annotation closely follows the target object, reducing noise and improving the specificity of the data used to feed machine learning models.
This precision is particularly critical in fields such as agriculture, where drones analyze crop health, or in the medical field, where identifying the nuanced contours of tumors can have a significant impact on diagnoses and treatment proposals.
In addition, the use of polygonal annotation can streamline object detection tasks in busy urban environments for autonomous vehicles, contributing to safer navigation by focusing only on the necessary data points and reducing the computational load.
With the increasing volume of visual data (images and videos) that AI systems have to process, polygonal annotation stands out as an indispensable tool for improving model accuracy and, by extension, the functionality and safety of AI applications.
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Main advantages of polygonal annotation
Polygonal annotation or data labeling techniques offer various advantages for the construction of AI products. From optimizing the use of space in urban areas to autonomous cars, these advantages are essential in every advanced field of dataset construction and AI model training.
Here are some of the main advantages of polygonal annotation tools!
Improved object accuracy
Polygonal annotation improves the accuracy of object recognition in datasets by enabling annotations that match the exact shape of the object.This reduces background noise and focuses the training of machine learning models on the target object itself, rather than including unnecessary peripheral data. Precision ensures that AI models are trained on high-quality data, improving their accuracy in real-world recognition.
Optimized for complex shapes
Complex and irregular shapes cannot be accurately represented by a simple bounding box. Polygonal annotation excels in these scenarios, enabling precise contouring that captures the complexities and unique contours of these objects, which is significant for industries such as healthcare where precision is non-negotiable, or other industries such as fashion, enabling objects with unique designs to be annotated without compromise.
Support for advanced AI applications
As AI becomes increasingly sophisticated, the need for data sets labeled with great detail and precision grows.
Polygonal annotation provides this level of detail, paving the way for more advanced AI applications in fields such as autonomous driving and precision agriculture, where every detail can have significant implications.
Streamlined processing
By annotating objects and focusing only on relevant points of interest, polygonal annotation can reduce the computing power required to process data.
This streamlining is essential in complex environments where fast real-time processing is required, such as in autonomous vehicle navigation.
Improving AI safety and reliability
The specificity and accuracy of polygonal annotation contribute to the development of safer, more reliable AI systems.
In time-critical applications such as medical imaging, diagnostics or autonomous vehicle technology, increased detail helps avoid errors that could have serious real-world consequences.
Noise reduction
Polygonal annotation helps reduce noise in datasets by precisely delineating the object of interest. By eliminating irrelevant background data, annotations can provide high-quality, targeted data for training artificial intelligence models, reducing noise and improving overall system accuracy.
This noise reduction is critical for complex and dynamic environments, and contributes to more reliable AI applications. It also saves time by making the process faster.
Automation potential
Polygonal annotation has the potential for automation, making the whole data labeling process more efficient and cost-effective. It can be used in pre-labeling processesIt can be used in pre-labeling processes, thanks to on-board functionality in the annotation platforms, enabling data to be pre-processed with a high degree of success.
With advances in Computer Vision technology, machines can now accurately trace complex shapes using algorithms, optimizing the work of human annotators and speeding up the annotation process.
This automation potential makes polygonal annotation an essential tool for managing large datasets and improving overall efficiency in AI development!
How to use polygonal annotations for advanced data labeling? Step by step
Polygonal annotation is an important process for refining the accuracy of AI models, particularly when dealing with complex images. The following step-by-step guide looks at the use of polygonal annotation for advanced data labeling:
Step 1: Choose the right images
Select clear images that clearly represent the scenarios where the trained AI model will be applied. Make sure that these images contain the objects of interest and are sufficiently varied to cover different cases that the AI would encounter.
Step 2: Define annotation guidelines
Develop comprehensive guidelines for annotators to follow, ensuring consistency in the way objects are marked.
These guidelines should include how to deal with occlusions, reflections and variable lighting conditions that can affect the perception of object shape.
Step 3: Identify objects of interest
Review selected images and identify objects requiring annotation. Proper identification at this stage is significant for the accuracy of the data labeling and image classification process.
Step 4: Annotate with precision
Using annotation tools, draw polygons around identified objects. Each point of the polygon should precisely follow the contours of the object, ensuring the creation of a tightly-fitted polygon that excludes any background noise unrelated to the object.
Step 5: Review and refine
Once the annotation is complete, perform a thorough review to check for errors or inconsistencies.
Adjust polygons as necessary to improve accuracy, ensuring that they accurately represent the shape of the object.
Step 6: Validate annotations
Have annotated images validated by a separate team or automated system.
This step is important to maintain the same quality control of the dataset and confirm that the annotations meet the specified guidelines.
Step 7: Train the machine learning model
Feed annotated images into the machine learning algorithm.
The precision of polygonal annotations helps to increase model accuracy in recognizing and understanding various shapes and objects under different conditions.
Step 8: Test and iterate
Once the model has been trained, test it with new images and measure its performance.
Iterate this process, refining polygonal annotations and further shaping the model to continually improve the accuracy of the AI system.
Thanks to the extensive implementation of these steps, polygonal annotation can significantly raise the performance and reliability of AI models, particularly in areas where accuracy is paramount.
Real-world applications of polygonal annotation
The use of the polygonal tool is enormous in a wide variety of real-life applications. We can build better machine learning models and improve their accurate representation process for the jobs they are designed for. From object detection to complex shape prediction processes, polygonal annotation is useful in a variety of real-world applications, as discussed below:
Medical image analysis
Polygonal annotation enables detailed mapping of medical images, such as X-rays and MRIs. Doctors use it to pinpoint diseases very precisely. This can help save lives by finding health problems more quickly and clearly.
Autonomous vehicles
Self-driving cars need to see the road as humans do, and make optimized decisions. Polygonal annotation helps by making road signs, lanes and other cars clear to the car's computer, so it can make safe driving decisions.
Agricultural monitoring with the polygonal tool
Farmers use drones to take photos of their crops. Polygonal annotation is used to help indicate which parts of a field are healthy or diseased, making it easier for the farmer to know where to water or treat with medication.
Retail inventory management
In stores, polygonal annotation helps track items on shelves. Cameras can see which products are there and what needs restocking, helping to keep shelves full for customers to shop.
Facial recognition
Polygonal annotation is used to train computers to recognize faces, which can help find missing people or allow you to unlock your phone with a glance. It's important that this is done with care to protect people's privacy.
These examples show how polygonal annotation is key to making AI intelligent and useful in everyday life. It enables computers to see and understand the world better, which can make many tasks easier and safer for people.
One last word
Overall, polygonal annotation tools and techniques are useful for building the most advanced data models that help you not only with image classification and object definition, but much more besides. This data labeling technique is used in a variety of fields in real life. We hope this blog post has been helpful in gaining a better understanding of polygonal annotation. If you have any questions about your data annotation process, please don't hesitate to contact us.
