I’ve no idea whether it would be useful for specifically mushroom identification, but I have before wondered before whether maybe future cell phones could incorporate some kind of hyperspectral imaging camera and light to permit for identifying things that look identical to humans.
Foliage that looks fairly-indistinguishable to human eyes can look different if you can sample at more points on the spectrum than the three that human eyes can check for; this has been used to find marijuana plantations with hyperspectral imaging from the air. But if you can get right up next to something and can control the light that it’s exposed to, I would guess that it’d be an even easier task to identify something. Doesn’t have to just be plants, either.
A spore print is an easy test anyone can do that will keep you from mixing up Amanita (destroying angel) and Agaricus (meadow mushroom). If the spores are cold brown like dark chocolate it’s an Agaricus, if they’re pinkish white it’s an Amanita.
Lol You’d think we’d have some sort of easy test strips or something for these, but ig not
I’ve no idea whether it would be useful for specifically mushroom identification, but I have before wondered before whether maybe future cell phones could incorporate some kind of hyperspectral imaging camera and light to permit for identifying things that look identical to humans.
Foliage that looks fairly-indistinguishable to human eyes can look different if you can sample at more points on the spectrum than the three that human eyes can check for; this has been used to find marijuana plantations with hyperspectral imaging from the air. But if you can get right up next to something and can control the light that it’s exposed to, I would guess that it’d be an even easier task to identify something. Doesn’t have to just be plants, either.
That’s a fucking badass idea, but I got stuck on this:
I hope we don’t have trouble identifying things that look identical to humans!
Such applications already exist. iNaturalist also helps identify vertebrates and invertebrates.
Don’t those all use a normal phone camera?
Yes
A spore print is an easy test anyone can do that will keep you from mixing up Amanita (destroying angel) and Agaricus (meadow mushroom). If the spores are cold brown like dark chocolate it’s an Agaricus, if they’re pinkish white it’s an Amanita.
It’s not like they’re that similar-looking either
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/255182707
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/233616138