Enter the maze

How we made an app to recognise bird sounds

Dan and Florence

Dan Stowell is a researcher at Queen Mary University of London. His research is about designing methods that computers could use to make sense of bird sounds. One day he met Florence Wilkinson, who works with businesses and young people, and they discovered they both had the same idea: "What if we could make an app that recognises bird sounds?" They decided to create a startup company to make it happen. Dan brought the technical computer science skills needed to create the app, and Florence brought the marketing and communication skills needed to ensure people would hear about it. Together, they persuaded Queen Mary University of London's innovation unit to give them a start-up grant. Now their app Warblr exists and is already getting press coverage. To be a successful innovator you need more than technical skills. You need the ability to be part of a great team and to recognise a sound deal!!

Find out more about the computer science behing the app.