Encord Product Updates: February 2025

We are thrilled to bring you the latest product developments from the Encord team after another exciting month of building. Today, we're excited to announce a massive set of updates to our multimodal data annotation capabilities:

1. Upgraded Multimodal Interface: Unify Complex GenAI Labeling & Evaluation
2. Enhanced Annotation Editor: Granular Control For Complex Image And Video Annotation
3. Synchronized DICOM Series Navigation: Precision in Medical Imaging Comparison

Upgraded Multimodal Interface: Unify Complex GenAI Labeling & Evaluation

Our latest update introduces three key improvements for teams building rich GenAI datasets with complex evaluation workflows:

• Multimodal, multi-file comparison interface allows seamless navigation between multiple GenAI files while maintaining prompt visibility with new read-only controls for reference materials
• Integrated context documentation embeds critical evaluation guidelines and detailed rubrics directly in the annotation workspace, eliminating productivity-draining context switching
• Unified feedback collection combines preference selection with precise issue marking, enabling annotators to both rank outputs and highlight specific problems within the preferred content

This upgraded interface supports the full spectrum of GenAI evaluation workflows, from RLHF preference ranking to detailed error identification in text, image, video, and audio generation - including complex multimodal scenarios where annotators need to reference multiple input types simultaneously.

Enhanced Annotation Editor: Granular Control For Complex Image And Video Labeling 

Annotation teams can now accurately annotate intricate image and video scenarios with our upgraded annotation capabilities, including:

• Annotating Intricate Objects — Updated support for high-vertex-count polygons enabling detailed annotation of complex objects
• Intelligent Layer Management — Navigate complex, overlapping annotations effortlessly with improved layer ordering in the side panel. When clicking in crowded areas, choose exactly which object you want to modify.
• Object Locking — Prevent accidental adjustments to completed work with our new locking feature. Once you've perfected an annotation, lock it in place to maintain data integrity throughout your project.

Our latest updates brings powerful selection controls that eliminate the frustration of managing overlapping objects and allows AI teams to maintain efficiency while capturing the detail needed for robust model training and fine-tuning.

Synchronized DICOM Series Navigation: Precision in Medical Imaging Comparison

We've implemented synchronized DICOM series navigation to address a critical challenge for Medical & Radiology AI teams working with comparative datasets. This update includes:

• Toggle feature maintains automatic synchronization between two series
• Ensures corresponding anatomical slices remain aligned during navigation
• Eliminates manual slice-matching and reduces potential annotation errors

We believe this will be particularly valuable for longitudinal studies, treatment response assessment, and anatomical reference comparisons where precise slice correspondence is essential for accurate annotation and analysis.

This enhancement significantly reduces cognitive load during annotation tasks involving multiple series, allowing AI teams to focus on the annotation quality rather than manual synchronization steps.

Did you know?  

• Leverage SOTA Models Within Your Data Workflows - Use Data Agents to fully customize your annotation and quality control workflows. Use the Encord SDK to integrate foundation models or your own models into your data workflows for pre-labelling, automating reviews and more.
• Multimodal Data Curation & Annotation - Consolidate and scale document, text and audio data management, curation and annotation workflows on one platform without compromising speed or security. 
• Enhanced Support Experience - If you have questions about platform functionality, try the AI-powered CS widget, which has been specifically tuned to answer questions about Encord. Find the widget in the lower right, or in the Help menu from anywhere within the Encord platform.