Dubbed “Guardians,” the solar-powered devices are designed to be placed on trees and record and transmit continuous audio from the forest to Cloud-based servers over the local cell-phone network, according to Rainforest Connection Founder and CEO Topher White.
Once the audio is uploaded to the Cloud, the nonprofit uses Google’s free TensorFlow software to analyze the sound data and detect chainsaws, logging trucks or other sounds of illegal activity in the forest in real-time and issue alerts.
Rainforest Connection plans to give the devices to indigenous Amazon tribes, such as the Tembé tribe located in the central Amazon.
