Njobvu-AI: An open-source tool for collaborative image labeling and implementation of computer vision models

Practitioners interested in using computer vision models lack user-friendly and open-source software that combines features to label training data, allow multiple users, train new algorithms, review output, and implement new models. Labeling training data, such as images, is a key step to developing accurate object detection algorithms using computer vision. This step is often not compatible with many cloud-based services for marking or labeling image and video data due to limited internet bandwidth in many regions of the world. Desktop tools are useful for groups working in remote locations, but users often do not have the capability to combine projects developed locally by multiple collaborators. Furthermore, many tools offer features for labeling data or using pre-trained models for classification, but few allow researchers to combine these steps to create and apply custom models. Free, open-source, and user-friendly software that offers a full suite of features (e.g., ability to work locally and online, and train custom models) is desirable to field researchers and conservationists that may have limited coding skills. We developed Njobvu-AI, a free, open-source tool that can be run on both desktop and server hardware using Node.js, allowing users to label data, combine projects for collaboration and review, train custom algorithms, and implement new computer vision models. The name Njobvu-AI (pronounced N-joh-voo AI), incorporating the Chichewa word for elephant, is inspired by a wildlife monitoring program in Malawi that was a primary impetus for the development of this tool and references similarities between the powerful memory of elephants and properties of computer vision models.