Automotive photography is essential for dealerships in the 21st century. Around 69% of buyers find good car visuals critical while searching for vehicle options online, while 26% consider them moderately important. Vehicle photography with traditional (manual) methods is slow, tedious, and expensive. That’s where the power of AI (artificial intelligence) can do wonders for you, by automating a portion of the task and guiding you through the rest. The first step to that is car detection. Once the AI performs that, image editing becomes a breeze!
Let’s understand what car object detection is in the context of automated image editing and what happens after.
What is Car Detection?
Car detection in an image is done with AI, wherein the latter can tell if the object in the image is a car or not, without any human intervention. The machine is trained with a dataset that contains images of vehicles and non-vehicle objects. It is shown plenty of images and told which object is a car and which is not until it can detect the same on its own with high accuracy.
Car object detection helps edit automobile images smoothly and seamlessly. Once the AI recognizes a vehicle, it can easily remove and replace the original background with a new, custom backdrop. It can also work on the car – tinting windows and removing their reflections, correcting its tilt, checking if the car is clean, etc. You can also train the machine with other datasets, like the vehicle classification dataset, to further improve its detection and classification accuracy. Thus, the AI would be able to recognize even the car segment!
Car Detection Model of Spyne
Spyne’s car detection image processing model takes things further. Our AI-powered editing platforms include a web browser application — named Darkroom — and a smartphone app for iOS and Android. Both Darkroom and the smartphone app offer automated image editing, with the latter additionally offering AI-guided photoshoots.
Any image you upload on Spyne is checked by 35+ individual APIs to give you the best image for your digital car catalogs. Additionally, depending on your requirements, you can use our platform as is or individual APIs. You can also use our software development kit to build your own white-label app.
Steps for Car Detection and Classification
Let’s look at some of the features that are included in Spyne’s AI-powered vehicle detection and classification and what they do:
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Car Classifier
It performs car object detection, verifying whether the object in your image is a car or not. It is a built-in feature of Spyne’s Virtual Car Studio and is also available as a separate API.
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Car Type Classifier
It classifies the car as per Spyne’s vehicle classification chart – sedan, SUV, hatchback, and pickup truck.
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Car Shoot Category Classifier
It detects which feature of the car is being photographed, classifying it as an interior shoot, exterior shoot, or miscellaneous.
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Car Shoot Interior Classifier
It detects the different interior features, such as an odometer or dashboard, in the image.
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Tint Classifier
Detects if the photographed car’s windows have been tinted or not.
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Window Masking
Masks the car windows in the image to remove reflections.
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Window See-Through Masking
Checks if the car in the image has see-through windows.
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Doors Open
This feature checks if the car doors are open.
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Tire Detection Classifier
Checks whether the object in the image is a tire.
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Number Plate Detection and Extraction
This API detects the number plate of the car object.
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Number Plate Masking
This feature masks the car’s number plate in the image, replacing it with a custom virtual plate.
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Angle Detection
This feature detects the angle of the car relative to the camera.
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Crop Detection
This feature detects if the car in the image has been cropped or if it is visible in the image.
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Distance Detection
This API automatically detects the car’s distance in the image from the camera photographing it.
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Exposure Detection
This feature checks the brightness of the image.
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Exposure Correction
Performs correction of the image brightness, automatically correcting bright or dark images.
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Reflection Classifier
Checks to see if there is any reflection on the car, like of a nearby object such as a tree or electric pole.
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Reflection Correction
This feature corrects the reflections on the car’s body in the picture.
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Car Is Clean
This API checks if the car body is clean or has any mud on it.
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Tire Mud Classifier
Checks to see if there is mud on the car’s tires in the photograph.
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Tilt Classifier
Checks if the car in the image is tilted to one side.
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Exterior Background Removal
Removes the original background from the car’s exterior shots.
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Interior Background Removal
Removes background from the car’s interior shots.
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Miscellaneous Background Removal
Removes background from all other pictures of the vehicle.
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Floor Generation and Shadow Options
Generates a virtual floor beneath the car to give the image a realistic look.
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Logo Placement
This feature assists in placing your dealership’s logo in the image.
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Tire Reflection
This creates a reflection of the tires on the virtual floor for a realistic look.
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Watermarks
Check if there are any watermarks on the image.
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Watermark Removal
Removes any watermarks from the photograph.
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Diagnose Image
This feature checks if there is any issue with the image’s aspect ratio, size, and resolution.
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Super Resolution
Increases image resolution as per your dealership website/marketplace requirements.
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Aspect Ratio
This feature uses super-resolution to increase or decrease the image’s aspect ratio per your needs.
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DPI
This feature uses super-resolution to increase or decrease the DPI (Dots Per Inch) as per your needs.
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Additional Parameter Correction
Corrects the image’s aspect ratio, size, and resolution.
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Video Trimmer
Generates frames from a 360° car video to create an interactive 360° spin view.
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Wipers Not Raised
This API checks if the wipers of the vehicle in the image are raised or not.
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Object Obstruction
Checks if there is any object obstruction before the car leading to hampered visibility.
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Blurry, Stretched, Or Distorted Images
This API checks if the car or the image is blurry or doesn’t adhere to the quality standards.
What is YOLO?
YOLO, which stands for “You Only Look Once,” is a groundbreaking object detection algorithm that has sparked a revolution in the field of computer vision. This algorithm addresses the challenging task of real-time object detection and localization in images and videos with exceptional accuracy and speed.
Traditionally, object detection algorithms involved multiple stages, such as region proposal and object classification, leading to relatively slower processing times. YOLO, introduced in its various versions (like YOLOv1, YOLOv2, YOLOv3, and later versions), took a radically different approach that significantly improved detection speed while maintaining accuracy.
How does YOLO work?
In the conventional approach, multiple regions of interest are proposed, and each is classified individually. YOLO, on the other hand, completely transforms this workflow. It frames object detection as a regression problem and uses a single neural network to predict both the object’s class and its bounding box coordinates directly from the full image.
Key Aspects of YOLO
1) Unified Detection
YOLO achieves detection in a unified manner. It divides the input image into a grid, and each grid cell predicts multiple bounding boxes and their associated class probabilities. This “you only look once” philosophy enables YOLO to process the entire image and predict object locations and classes in a single forward pass of the network.
2) Speed and Efficiency
YOLO’s single-pass approach makes it extremely fast compared to traditional methods that require multiple passes through the network. YOLO is capable of real-time object detection, even on resource-constrained devices.
3) Loss Function
YOLO uses a unique loss function that combines object localization loss, object classification loss, and confidence loss for bounding box predictions. This loss function guides the network to simultaneously optimize object localization and classification accuracy.
4) Anchor Boxes
To handle objects of varying sizes and aspect ratios, YOLO employs anchor boxes. These predefined boxes are used to predict object boundaries, and the algorithm determines which anchor box best fits the size and shape of the object being detected.
5) Feature Pyramid
YOLOv3 and later versions integrate feature pyramids that allow the algorithm to detect objects at different scales and resolutions. This further improves detection accuracy for both small and large objects.
Impact and Applications
YOLO’s innovative approach has found widespread applications in fields such as autonomous driving, surveillance, medical imaging, and more. Its ability to provide accurate and real-time object detection has been instrumental in enhancing safety, efficiency, and automation across various domains.
In conclusion, YOLO (You Only Look Once) is a revolutionary object detection algorithm that has transformed computer vision. Its single-pass, unified approach to object detection, along with its speed and accuracy, has made it a cornerstone technology in modern visual perception systems.
How does a Vehicle Detection System work ?
This section describes the main structure of a vehicle detection system and counting system. The process follows a sequence of steps to automatically identify and locate vehicles within a given area using image or video analysis. Here’s an overview of the steps involved:
1) Data Acquisition
The car detection system initiates by capturing video data of the traffic scene using cameras, sensors, or similar monitoring devices. This video data becomes the primary input for the vehicle detection system.
2) Road Surface Extraction and Division
After acquiring the video data, the system proceeds to extract and define the road surface area within each frame. This segmentation is essential to focus the detection process on the relevant region where vehicles are expected to appear. The extracted road surface is further divided into smaller sections or grids, facilitating efficient vehicle counting and tracking.
3) YOLOv3 Object Detection
As the heart of the vehicle detection and tracking process, the YOLOv3 deep learning object detection method comes into play. YOLOv3 (You Only Look Once version 3) is a cutting-edge algorithm specifically designed for real-time object detection. It leverages the power of deep neural networks to accurately and swiftly detect various objects, including vehicles, within complex scenes.
YOLOv3 employs a grid-based approach, dividing the input image into a grid of cells. For each cell, the algorithm predicts bounding boxes that tightly enclose the detected objects. Additionally, YOLOv3 provides class probabilities for the predicted objects, allowing it to distinguish between different types of vehicles present in the traffic scene.
4) Vehicle Tracking and Counting
To ensure accurate vehicle counting and tracking, the system employs tracking algorithms. These algorithms use the information from YOLOv3’s detections to maintain a consistent identity for each detected vehicle across consecutive frames. Techniques like Kalman filters or SORT (Simple Online and Realtime Tracking) are commonly used to track vehicles’ movement.
5) Counting and Analysis
The tracked vehicles are then accurately counted as they either enter or exit specific regions of interest within the scene. These regions could include entry and exit points of highway segments or designated monitoring areas. By analyzing the trajectories and interactions of the detected and tracked vehicles, the system can provide insights into traffic flow, congestion, and other relevant metrics.
6) Output Visualization
The final step involves visually representing the results. The system generates annotated video frames with bounding boxes encompassing detected vehicles, labels indicating their types, and trajectory paths illustrating the tracked movement of vehicles. This output serves as a valuable resource for real-time monitoring, traffic management, and further in-depth analysis.
In conclusion, a vehicle detection and counting system incorporates a structured process that starts with video data input, followed by road surface extraction and division. The YOLOv3 deep learning object detection method is then applied to accurately identify vehicles in highway traffic scenes. Through vehicle tracking, counting, and visualization of results, these systems contribute to efficient traffic management and informed decision-making.
Real-World Use Case of Car Object Detection
Spyne’s app can get studio-quality images for your digital showrooms. The app has a guided photoshoot telling you what angle of the vehicle to capture. Additionally, the automatic validation feature will tell you if the photo can be edited or if you must reshoot it.
Upload the image to the virtual studio and select what edits you want, whether it is background replacement, window tinting, Number Plate Masking, logo placement, etc. Moreover, the virtual studio uses car detection image processing to determine where the background lies in the image, how to remove and replace it, etc. After recognizing a vehicle in an image, the system can also edit the windows, numberplates, tires, etc. Through AI, you can edit images in bulk within seconds, and the system remembers your settings to give you a consistent-looking catalog throughout.
Benefits of Spyne AI Car Detection
Let’s look at the benefits of Spyne’s AI photo enhancer technology to create high-quality car identifier by image for your online car inventory:
- It is quick: Faster turnaround time is a dream for all retailers. Moreover, AI photo editing software makes these dreams come true by being able to process hundreds of photographs in seconds.
- It is cost-efficient: AI photo enhancers will help you save a lot of money. It not just saves the cost of the workforce to edit the pictures but can even help you save money spent on Car Photography.
- Allows bulk editing at once: When your expectations for a professional car photoshoot collide with the disappointing background, it’s time to dive into a marathon editing session or even consider reshooting! With AI editing, this is only a matter of a few minutes.
- Accuracy and Consistency: AI editors come to the rescue by eliminating and changing the background, changing colors, adding shadows, and meeting every other editing demand required. While the accuracy and consistency with manual editing rely on the editor, in the case of AI photo enhancers, you can get 100% accuracy without the chance of human mistakes or inconsistency in the edited photos.
Conclusion
Online viewers can have an attention span comparable to that of a goldfish. Without innovative car visuals, attracting their attention and converting them into buyers would be impossible. Moreover, trying to produce high-impact visuals through manual processes brings numerous bottlenecks. Spyne’s automated car photo shoot begins with car detection and ensures next-gen vehicle photography without hassles.
Still, have doubts or want to know more about how Spyne can help you automate vehicle photography? Book a demo, and we’ll give you a detailed explanation and demo.
