LONDON: Candide, which already has a huge online community has launched a unique, free, augmented reality plant identification and tagging tool. Candide Labels is set to revolutionise plant labelling and help to reduce the use of plastic in gardens.

The app is now available to download from the App Store and offers an exciting new opportunity for people to identify and label plants in their own home or garden.

Candide is a fast-growing startup based in central Bristol with a mission to help and inspire novice and experienced gardeners alike through innovative technologies and passion for sharing knowledge.

With recent advances in machine learning and augmented reality, coupled with mobile devices now able to bring these technologies to all – Candide is revolutionising the gardening experience. Candide was born from the desire to help people get more from their gardens, to connect with a wider community of nature-lovers and to ultimately harness technology to make gardening more enjoyable for all.

Candide Labels uses both augmented reality and machine learning but offers a very simple user experience – Simply load the app and hold the camera up to focus on the plant or shrub you wish to identify. The app will automatically suggest the name from Candide’s extensive plant database, enabling you to place a virtual label.

The new Candide Labels feature offers huge benefits to gardeners and houseplant enthusiasts, removing the need to physically label plants and flowers. With sustainability in mind, this will help avoid the need for plastic plant labels currently being used in gardens around the world.

Commenting on the new technology, Andrew Philbrick, Candide’s Founder, said; “Candide – Plants and Gardening is unique in offering a rich and warm gardening community, together with an extensive knowledge base and news service, backed by cutting edge technology. Expanding on our success, Candide Labels is a really useful and practical tool. You can have your plant list in your pocket to share with others at any time. It also means you can avoid having to insert plastic labels into your beds which makes it great for sustainability.”