Connect with us

Technology

Bird Buddy Launches Nature Intelligence Allowing Users To Name Individual Birds And Get Notified When They Return

Published

on

Tech for nature start-up, Bird Buddy, has launched its new AI product, ‘Nature Intelligence’.At the same time, the award-winning tech business has launched the ‘Nature Connected Home’, a new smart home integration.The Gen 2 AI (Nature Intelligence) introduces the world’s first non-invasive bird tagging with Name That Bird, deepening our connection with nature.Nature Intelligence recognizes when birds are sick, alerts when pets are around, and has extended species recognition to include butterflies, bees, and even the likes of bears and deer.

Watch Keynote from Franci Zidar, CEO Bird Buddy

KALAMAZOO, Mich., July 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Bird Buddy, the award-winning tech for nature company, has launched its new AI product called Nature Intelligence which delivers unique bird identification. Nature Intelligence includes additional features, asked for by the Bird Buddy community such as Bird Care, Pet Alerts, and additional species recognition. Concurrently launched is the Nature Connected Home functionality, which directly connects Bird Buddy’s Smart Feeder, a TIME Best Invention of 2023, and Smart Hummingbird Feeder to home devices, live streaming nature.

 

https://mybirdbuddy.com/summerupdate/

Nature Intelligence brings you closer than ever before to the nature around your home, and teaches you how to help it not just survive but thrive. Name That Bird is a key feature from Bird Buddy’s new built-in AI product. Without the use of bird banding, the AI identifies each individual bird by their unique features, opening up the opportunity to name your favorite visitors. Nature Intelligence also detects when birds are sick or injured, something bird enthusiasts are keen to know about in order to help prevent disease spread. In addition, you can now receive alerts for when pets, notably cats, are detected at your feeder. At the same time, Bird Buddy feeders will now recognize many other backyard creatures such as butterflies, bees, lizards, and raccoons, as well as the obvious squirrel.

Commenting on this launch, Franci Zidar, CEO Bird Buddy said:

“This is an absolute game changer in how we relate to the birds in our yard and is designed to unlock a deeper connection that was previously impossible. Imagine naming your favorite Northern Cardinal, Bob, and getting notified whenever Bob pays you a visit. Well, now it’s possible. It’s an experimental feature that could someday transform conservation efforts as it improves in accuracy.”

“The detail made available by the 5MP high-resolution Bird Buddy sensor present in all our feeders along with its close-up format is designed to bring out the full character of visiting birds. This makes Bird Buddy uniquely capable of capturing the features required to make this work. The potential is massive and I couldn’t be more excited for what this unlocks.”

Nature’s buzz now doesn’t need to stop at your back door. With the partner launch of the Nature Connected Home, Bird Buddy has unlocked access for nature to enter your home through your choice of connected device. Bird song and chatter can now be streamed through Alexa, Bird Buddy Feeder live streams can be broadcast on a smart TV to rival other VOD services, and users receive insights and recommendations, meaning nature is welcomed into the home on a daily basis.

Explaining further, Franci said:

“Your screens can become windows into the nature around your home when you’re not using them. If you feel like it, you can broadcast the sounds of nature from your yard into your indoor living spaces. It’s an effortless and magical integration that helps you stay connected with the nature around you by allowing its visual and auditory beauty to seep through the smart displays and speakers of your home. Bringing your backyard into your home is a smart move. Our mission is to heal our relationship with nature and ultimately make a measurable positive impact on our local ecosystems.”

Nature Intelligence and the Nature Connected Home are available through Bird Buddy Pro subscription service. For as little as $5.99 per month, Bird Buddy users can access all the Pro services (ADD). Bird Buddy’s Smart Bird Feeder and Smart Hummingbird Feeder units come with the standard free Bird Buddy app.

Notes to editors

Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder product images are here: Media kit

Bird Buddy Smart Hummingbird product images are here: Hummingbird Feeder Media kit

About Bird Buddy

Bird Buddy is on a mission to inspire a global passion for conservation by strengthening our relationship with the nature surrounding our own homes. Through their range of products and services, Bird Buddy is providing new ways to make a lasting and measurable positive impact on our local biodiversity.

Bird Buddy has now delivered over a billion moments of nature to Bird Buddy users, and have touched millions of other people around the world with the help of our community. Over 250,000 units have been shipped worldwide.

Bird Buddy has three hardware products:

Smart Bird Feeder

Smart Hummingbird Feeder

Smart Bird Bath (shipping late 2024)

With multiple accessories to increase species attraction and deepen connections with nature including the perch extender for bigger birds, three-in-one nutrition set, and suet ball holder.

Bird Buddy has also launched its own range of bird seeds: Buddy Bites, Avian Choice and Snack N’ Soar.

The tech for nature start up has won several awards:

TIME Best Invention 2023SXSW Best Innovation for AI 20233 x CES Honoree 20222 x CES Honoree 2024Fast Company Innovation in Design 2023IdEA Silver AwardCNN Best Tested 2024Good Housekeeping Best overall 2024

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih3wxaJgyKQ
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2458569/Name_that_Bird.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2458570/Nature_Connected_Home.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2458571/Nature_Intelligence.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2458573/Nature_station.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bird-buddy-launches-nature-intelligence-allowing-users-to-name-individual-birds-and-get-notified-when-they-return-302194072.html

SOURCE Bird Buddy

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Zifo Transforms Ontology Engineering with AI-Powered Intelligent Automation

Published

on

By

Advanced AI solution speeds up ontology creation by 80%, generating structured, interoperable knowledge models for science-driven organizations.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and CAMBRIDGE, England, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Zifo, the leading global enabler of AI and data-driven enterprise informatics for science-driven organizations, has developed an Intelligent Automation solution for Ontology Engineering, which is designed to seamlessly generate structured, interoperable knowledge models while accelerating ontology creation by 80%.

Overcoming the Bottlenecks of Manual Ontology Creation

Manual ontology creation in the biopharma industry has traditionally been a time-consuming process that requires specialized expertise. Organizations frequently struggle with semantic ambiguity, complex integration challenges, and limited scalability, resulting in workflows that can take weeks to complete. Zifo’s AI-powered automation tackles these challenges head-on by eliminating 80% of the manual work through automated class generation, description creation, and precise IRI mapping.

Addressing the Complexities of Semantic Knowledge

Developing comprehensive knowledge models often demands deep domain expertise to define relationships and align terminology. Zifo’s intelligent solution overcomes this by providing an AI-guided workflow featuring an intuitive interface, meaning specialized ontology engineering knowledge is no longer required. By leveraging LLM-powered generation, the solution creates precise definitions with a deep understanding of domain-specific context, while generating standardized synonyms and establishing controlled vocabulary alignment to eliminate inconsistent terminology.

A Solution Designed for Scalable Scientific Data Modeling

The AI-powered solution addresses critical format compatibility and integration points in ontology management:

Seamless Integration: Automated mapping connects directly to established ontologies, including NCIT, CHEBI, OBI, and EFO, via BioPortal and OLS APIs.Massive Scalability: Parallel processing and batch operations empower teams to execute large-scale ontology projects without performance limitations.Automated Hierarchies: The AI autonomously generates semantic relationships and parent-child hierarchies based on domain context and predefined relation vocabularies.Format Compatibility: The solution produces direct OWL/RDF exports with proper URIs, ensuring seamless downstream integration.

Unique Features include:

Multi-Source Integration: The solution combines BioPortal, OLS, and EMBL-EBI APIs to guarantee comprehensive ontology coverage.Intelligent Ranking System: The system uses AI-powered relevance scoring and justification for precise ontology mappings.Precise IRI Mapping: It ensures that each generated class is linked to the correct IRI, directly promoting semantic web compatibility.Human-in-the-Loop Design: The solution automates repetitive tasks while maintaining vital expert oversight.End-to-End Workflow: Users are guided through a complete pipeline, from initial domain knowledge input straight to exportable OWL files.Visual Knowledge Graph: An interactive graph visualization allows for intuitive relationship exploration and validation.Multi-Format Exports: Provides seamless export options in CSV, OWL, or HTML Ontograph formats for downstream use, collaboration, and visualization.

Strategic Value Across the Scientific Chain

This solution breaks down the traditional barriers of data structuring. Built on a robust backend of Python, LangChain, and leading LLM models, alongside a frontend framework using Next.js 15 and Cytoscape.js for graph visualization, the solution is highly adaptable. Furthermore, future optimization enhancements will include provisions for uploading user-defined classes or semi-ready ontologies.

About Zifo

Zifo is the leading global enabler of AI and data-driven enterprise informatics for science-driven organizations. With expertise spanning research, development, manufacturing, and clinical domains, Zifo serves a diverse range of industries including Pharma, Biotech, Chemicals, Food and Beverage, and more. Trusted by over 190 organizations worldwide, Zifo is the partner of choice for advancing digital scientific innovation.

For more information, visit www.zifornd.comhttps://zifornd.com/practical-ai-blueprints/

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2731415/Zifo_Technologies_Logo.jpg

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zifo-transforms-ontology-engineering-with-ai-powered-intelligent-automation-302758975.html

SOURCE Zifo Technologies

Continue Reading

Technology

UNC-Chapel Hill establishes ‘Carolina in the Capital’ with new Washington, D.C. office

Published

on

By

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has opened a new office in Washington, D.C., establishing an expanded presence for the University in the nation’s capital and creating exciting opportunities for students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Located at 101 Constitution Avenue NW, the 10,861-square-foot space – coined “Carolina in the Capital” – will support a variety of functions, including educational programming for undergraduate and graduate students, alumni relations and engagement with government partners.

As a leading R1 university, UNC-Chapel Hill annually attracts more than $1.6 billion to the state’s economy to fund research that creates a better quality of life for all its citizens. More than 60% of UNC-Chapel Hill’s total research funding comes from federal sponsors with the majority of that federal funding coming from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is based in the Washington area.

“Carolina in the Capital is a state-of-the-art facility that reflects our commitment to creating experiential learning opportunities for our students and faculty,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “The space is designed as an immersive learning environment where students can translate classroom knowledge into hands-on experience, which has never been more important. The facility also strengthens our ability to support engagement between our staff, alumni, policymakers and partners.”

Supporting students participating in Carolina’s Washington-based academic programs is a priority. For years, students and faculty have relied on temporary or borrowed spaces across the city. The new office provides a permanent home where students can gather, learn and build community while living and studying in Washington. A robust schedule of classes and events will fill the space throughout the year.

The Washington, D.C. region is home to the largest concentration of out-of-state Carolina alumni anywhere in the country. The new office creates a dedicated space to strengthen those connections and support networking, mentorship, professional development and community-building among D.C.-based Tar Heels.

The space will also serve as a platform to bring Carolina’s research and academic expertise into closer conversation with policymakers, industry leaders and member organizations. Carolina is the nation’s 11th largest university in the country based on research volume with primary federal funding coming from NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF), both based in the D.C. area. Carolina is a proud member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Public & Land Grant Universities (APLU), which are both based in Washington.

The office is funded entirely through the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation and does not use any state appropriations.

You can view additional photos of the space here.

Media Contact: UNC Media Relations, 919-445-8555, mediarelations@unc.edu

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unc-chapel-hill-establishes-carolina-in-the-capital-with-new-washington-dc-office-302758250.html

SOURCE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Office of Communications

Continue Reading

Technology

Investing.com Acquires Stonki to Accelerate Its Entry into the Agentic AI Era

Published

on

By

The acquisition strengthens Investing.com’s AI capabilities, advancing a next-generation research assistant that can analyze markets, generate insights, and guide investors in real time

NEW YORK, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Investing.com, one of the world’s largest financial platforms used by more than 60 million investors each month, today announced the acquisition of Stonki, an AI-powered investing assistant designed to help traders turn ideas into structured, actionable trading plans.

The move marks a major step in the company’s evolution toward agentic AI, strengthening its ability to deliver faster, deeper, and more actionable market insights to a growing base of more than 300,000 paying subscribers across its InvestingPro suite, the company’s premium subscription offering for advanced market data, tools, and AI-driven insights.

Over the past 12 months, nearly 3 million users have used WarrenAI, Investing.com’s AI-powered financial research assistant launched last year, to perform market analysis, making AI a central entry point into the platform’s ecosystem. With the addition of Stonki, the company is moving beyond traditional AI tools toward agentic systems that can proactively guide users through the investment process.

“We’re entering the age of agentic AI, where the technology moves beyond just answering questions to actively helping investors think, analyze, and act,” said Omer Shvili, CEO of Investing.com. “Bringing Stonki.ai into the fold accelerates our goal of building an agentic platform that will serve as a 24/7 analyst for our users. We are developing this to be more than just a tool; it will be a partner that identifies opportunities, tracks unfolding situations, and surfaces trade ideas even when the user isn’t active—giving our users the kind of edge that was previously only available to professional investors.”

Founded in 2025, Stonki is developing a new category of ‘agentic’ AI for investing, enabling users to turn investment ideas into fully defined strategies with entry and exit conditions, risk management rules, and continuous monitoring.

“We started Stonki because, as investors and traders ourselves, we knew how much time and focus it takes to stay on top of the market and properly manage a day trade, a swing trade, an investment idea, or a portfolio,” said Ulas Bilgenoglu and Itay Verkh, co-founders of Stonki. “We set out to build AI that could carry part of that load by continuously monitoring the market, turning ideas into structured strategies, and helping users make better decisions with clear entry and exit conditions, disciplined risk management, and ongoing tracking. Joining Investing.com gives us the scale, data, reach, and strong AI foundation to accelerate that vision. Together, we can create an experience where AI helps users stay ahead of the market, manage risk, and act with greater confidence.”

The acquisition expands Investing.com’s AI capabilities across both technical and fundamental investing workflows. Stonki’s technology is built around persistent, real-time intelligence, continuously monitoring markets, tracking user-defined strategies, and alerting investors when conditions align, rather than relying on one-off prompts or static analysis.

For active traders, the platform is evolving into a real-time analysis engine designed to support high-frequency decision-making with precision and speed. For long-term investors, it is becoming a central hub for research, enabling users to evaluate opportunities, set personalized alerts, and monitor portfolios based on their individual investment strategies.

Users will be able to define specific conditions, such as a stock crossing a long-term moving average, and have the AI continuously monitor the market, analyze relevant signals, and surface actionable insights in real time. The system will also review portfolios on an ongoing basis, helping investors avoid potential losses and uncover new opportunities aligned with their strategy.

This latest step builds on Investing.com’s broader strategy of expanding its AI-powered suite, including WarrenAI, ProPicks AI, and its recently launched AI Chart Analysis, all aimed at delivering faster, more accurate and more actionable insights to investors.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/investingcom-acquires-stonki-to-accelerate-its-entry-into-the-agentic-ai-era-302756588.html

SOURCE Investing.com

Continue Reading

Trending