Leather Defects Photos Required

[honur]

Hello,
My name is Onur. I am a software developer and engineer. I'd like to pick my master degree project about leather defects and how to detect them with a regular phone camera.
For this reason, I need to train an artificial intelligence(AI) and I am planning to develop a phone app and let everybody to use it.
But training AI needs too much visual data. That's where I need your support.

Plus: I am open to all advices from valuable users of this website. I am planning to detect leather defects at the stage of "leather calcification" which I am not sure I translate it right to english.

Thank you guys, I need maybe 1000's of photos but I believe this project will be helpful for all leather workers. I can share my email adress for bulk photos if its not forbidden in website rules.

[fredk]

I'm going to put a real damper on your plans

In my experience almost all 'defects'  in leather can only be detected by actual handling of the leather. The defects can not be seen. Some 'defects' only appear after the leather is dyed or worked, they have not been seen until then

I do not count scars and blemishes as 'defects' but as character of the leather and as these are unique to each hide which might have them no AI will be able to classify or recognise them

[chuck123wapati]

I'm gonna put another, earn your own masters, do the work your self so you actually know what your talking about when your done.

[honur]

7 minutes ago, fredk said:

I'm going to put a real damper on your plans

In my experience almost all 'defects'  in leather can only be detected by actual handling of the leather. The defects can not be seen. Some 'defects' only appear after the leather is dyed or worked, they have not been seen until then

I do not count scars and blemishes as 'defects' but as character of the leather and as these are unique to each hide which might have them no AI will be able to classify or recognise them

Thanks for your opinion. Actually I've found a couple of researches about defect detection. Some of them even got more than 80% accuracy. I believe it can be done at some stage of leather work. Plus as much as I know there are machines which operator loads the drawings to laset cut and machine cuts it automatically. If it recognise a defect it does not use that part.

[honur]

6 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

I'm gonna put another, earn your own masters, do the work your self so you actually know what your talking about when your done.

I am trying to learn by researching it, asking it. Thats why I give huge importance to comments from this website. I am trying to develop a 'free to use' system for everybody's use. When I finish my study everybody can download app from google play and use it.

[kgg]

2 hours ago, honur said:

I need maybe 1000's of photos but I believe this project will be helpful for all leather workers.

Why not go to a few tannery's, I'm sure there must be some in Turkey. They would be able to show you leather of various qualities and any defects that occur throughout the tanning process.

kgg

[Tugadude]

I could be wrong but I believe the charm of leatherwork for many of us is the fact you don't need computers or even any machines at all to turn out beautiful, functional product.  It is what drew me to leatherwork.  Being able to take a skin and some hand tools and some thread and create something wonderful is almost magical when you think about it.  

When I hand a project over to someone not familiar with leatherwork, they nearly always remark they had no idea that people could do this by themselves.  They remark on the stitching, how it appears so perfect and are puzzled you can achieve that without a machine.  

I agree with fredk, and will go further and say much of my enjoyment is in smelling the tanned leather, brushing it, feeling the smoothness, the suppleness before even touching it with a blade.  It is part of the process, the experience for me.  

I rarely find any major defects in the leather I use.  Maybe I'm lucky.  The most I find is cosmetic and easy to work around.  

The tool the OP is working on is I'm sure going to be helpful for somebody.  Probably not most of us here.

I suggest you reach out to the mass producers.  Hope you speak Chinese, as that's where much of the cheap product originates from.

[chuck123wapati]

5 minutes ago, honur said:

I am trying to learn by researching it, asking it. Thats why I give huge importance to comments from this website. I am trying to develop a 'free to use' system for everybody's use. When I finish my study everybody can download app from google play and use it.

So i go to a leather shop and instead of picking up the leather and actually looking at it, feeling it, smelling it, i use an app? damn what if you forget to take it along?

What is a defect exactly in your mind? 

i agree you need first hand info. start at at a tannery, take photos as they show you what your looking at, become educated yourself.

 

[BlackDragon]

I'll second what others have said.

You have to first decide what is a defect.

What is a defect in one person's eye is just part of the character to another person's eye. 

The purses I make sell for a high price and the things that the big names say would be a defect my customers love about leather.

Do you remember when Microsoft created an AI to detect and ban nude images and the AI kept banning images of sand dunes?

Once you can define what a defect is then you can ask others if this would be considered a defect.

[TomE]

Better yet, could train an AI algorithm to value leather goods based on pictures/prices of items posted online.  We could use the app could to set the price of our goods.  I'll match any advertised price, etc.  ...Am I on the right track?

[Tequila]

Who would use an app like that?  If you’re a customer you’d need to have the leather in front of you and I’d think I’d rely on my eyes and hands to find a defect.  The online retailers would post pictures if they wanted to show a defect.  And tanneries would reject a badly damaged hide and their master tanners know what is acceptable and what is not.  Your heart is in the right place, I just don’t see a practical application for this. 

[327fed]

There is a popular weed ID app. Correct maybe 30 % of the time. People were always sticking this in my face. When I told them it was correct they would say “but the phone says so”. 

[honur]

Thank you to all, I already did go to tannery's and meet with people. They said this project would be great if I could do it. That's why I found this website and ask for photos. I was thinking maybe some of users already have this kind of photos but now I doubt  anyway thank you for your opinions. 

[327fed]

Here is one example. Supposed to be fat wrinkles or dyed veg tan due to overfed cattle.