Cat Detective Round 2: Just the Cats, Ma'am

The photos I ran through the cat detector program in Round 1 were sample images from Adrian Rosebeck’s tutorial. Those were what I would classify as glamour shots: face-forward, well composed, well lit, and in focus. Those are ideal for the cat detector program, which performs its identification using something called a basic set of Haar features, i.e. horizontal and vertical features but not diagonal features. I’m not interested in figuring out how that works quite yet, but maybe later when I try to improve the results. What I really wanted to know is how well this program works with the average photo of animals in their environment. I decided to use only photos with animals and no people to keep things simple for now.

Results

As you saw in Round 1, when the program finds a cat, it draws a red box and labels it. For each test below, I’m showing the source image and, only if a cat is detected, the resulting photo. Let’s check it out:

Test Subject: Minnie and Romeo

Success! No cats in the source image, none detected.

Minnie and Romeo

Test Subject: Bandit Looking Majestic

Success! No cats in the source image, none detected.

Bandit Looking Majestic

Test Subject: Bandit Reclining

Failure! 0 cats in the source image, but 1 identified during the analysis. Not sure what went wrong here, maybe the angle of the color patch around Bandit's eye confused the program.

Bandit Reclining Bandit Reclining

Test Subject: ClaraBelle

Success! Correct number of cats detected.

ClaraBelle ClaraBelle

Test Subject: Jazmin Sleeping

Success! No cats in the source image, none detected.

Jazmin Sleeping

Test Subject: Jazmin Dozing

Success! No cats in the source image, none detected.

Jazmin Dozing

Test Subject: Robin Posing in “The Dogfather”

Success! No cats in the source image, none detected.

Robin Posing in “The Dogfather”

Test Subject: Breton's Cat

Success! Correct number of cats detected. Seriously? That's the only part that looks like a cat?

Breton's Cat Breton's Cat

Test Subject: Deer

Success! No cats in the source image, none detected.

Deer

Test Subject: Laverne the Leopard Gecko

Success! No cats in the source image, none detected.

Laverne the Leopard Gecko

Test Subject: Lily the Cat

Success! Correct number of cats detected.

Lily the Cat Lily the Cat

Test Subject: Rumble the Cat

Success! Correct number of cats detected.

Rumble the Cat Rumble the Cat

Test Subject: Wendy the Dog

Failure! 0 cats in the source image, but 1 identified during the analysis. Wendy is obviously not a cat. Like Bandit above, the coloring on the patch of her nose may be what tripped up the program.

Wendy the Dog Wendy the Dog

Test Subject: Zada the Cat

Failure!1 cat in the source image, but no cats identified during the analysis. This is a very nice clear photo. I have no idea why the program failed.

Zada the Cat

Test Subject: Syrian Hamster

Failure! 0 cats in the source image, but 1 identified during the analysis. The hamster's training as a master of disguise finally paid off.

Syrian Hamster Syrian Hamster

Test Subject: Mindy's Cat #1

Failure! 1 cat in the source image, but 2 identified during the analysis. The program confused the cat's fur for a face. I suspect that the blurry image had an adverse effect as well.

Mindy's Cat #1 Mindy's Cat #1

Test Subject: Mindy's Cat #2

Failure! 1 cat in the source image, but 2 identified during the analysis. Again, not consolidating overlapping images seems to be a weakness of this program.

Mindy's Cat #2 Mindy's Cat #2

Test Subject: Niko and the Lightsaber

Failure! 0 cats in the source image, but 1 identified during the analysis. This is not the cat you're looking for.

Niko and the Lightsaber Niko and the Lightsaber

Test Subject: Kittie-Kittie

Success! No cats in the source image, none detected. Yes, “Kittie-Kittie” is this adorable dog’s name.

Kittie-Kittie

Test Subject: Chewie Chewing

Failure! 0 cats in the source image, but 1 identified during the analysis. There must be something about the details in his claws confusing the program.

Chewie Chewing Chewie Chewing

Test Subject: Chewie Eating

Success! No cats in the source image, none detected.

Chewie Eating

Test Subject: Simon in Repose

Failure! 1 cat in the source image, but 2 identified during the analysis. Once again, the overlapping boxes on a blurry image seem to be causing issues.

Simon in Repose Simon in Repose

Thanks for the Memories

A special thank you to my friends and family who graciously supplied the photos I used in this round and those coming up in the next.

Next Steps

In Round 3, I will run the cat detector against a series of real-life photos that include both pets and people.