Product Updates [September 2023]

The world of computer vision and AI never slows down. OpenAI is pushing new boundaries, adding foundation sight and sound support to ChatGPT. Encord isn’t slowing down either, making it easier than ever to annotate and understand your datasets with improvements to our workflows, benchmark quality assurance algorithms, and active learning platform. Read on for all the details below.

Workflow Enhancements: Force Review and Change Review Judgement

Reviewing annotations is a critical part of ensuring label quality going into downstream workloads. Depending on the domain or sample difficulty, it can often be difficult even for subject matter experts to make the correct judgment in one shot, or correctly identify labels in every sample. As part of empowering teams with flexible review workflows, Encord is unveiling two improvements to reviews inside our annotation workflows. First, by toggling on Strict Review for any given review stage, you’ll be able to ensure a review task is not over until you explicitly reject or approve it. This means tasks without any labels will be stopped for a review, as well as making it easy to make detailed comments on reviews before sending them back to annotation.

We’re also making it possible to change whether a label should be approved or rejected — even if you have already decided once. Simply select the labels under the ‘completed’ section in question and press ‘Return to pending.’ Combine this with the ‘Strict Review’ feature to carefully consider the most difficult quality control workloads and make fully informed judgments.

Upgrades to Annotator Training and Benchmark QA: DICOM and Keypoint Support

We're excited to announce several improvements to Benchmark QA and training projects! We’re introducing support for DICOM data, as well as for ‘Keypoint’ ontology types in Benchmark QA and training projects — making it even easier to use Encord to upskill annotation workforces and scale your annotation efforts while maintaining consistent quality control. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us for assistance in setting up your Benchmark QA or training project workloads!

Single Label Review Settings

Navigating and reviewing labels just got even more efficient! We're excited to introduce an update to our Single Label Review - you now have the power to adjust the default zoom level for the label editor, providing greater control and precision when reviewing individual labels. Don’t worry about having to find a setting that works for all labels - you can easily fine-tune the zoom level to focus on the details that matter most to you when a label is being reviewed while having a useful default that accelerates your workflow when reviewing many labels in a single session!

Did you know? Set Dynamic Attributes with our Keyframe Editor

Objects in temporal media may have different attributes at different points in time. Dynamic attributes are the perfect way to model attributes that change over an object’s lifetime, and our powerful keyframe editing interface is the perfect way to scale annotation workloads with such attributes. Set the frames where the attribute values change, and then propagate those changes along the object's lifecycle with just a few simple clicks! The label editor timeline instantly reflects any changes you make for easy verification and inspection. Dive into our documentation for more details!

Encord Active: Search Anything and Look Good Doing It

Take your dataset querying to the next level with Search Anything! Building on the success of our natural language search feature, we're excited to introduce a new dimension to your search capabilities. Our latest feature, Search Anything, uses embeddings-based search technology to find images in your dataset that closely resemble an external image you provide. Simply drag and drop your chosen external image into Encord Active whereafter our algorithms will match it against your dataset, quickly and accurately identifying the most similar images for your review. For when you can’t describe an image, let the image describe itself!

In addition to putting all that power in your hands, we’re making it easier to wield as well. We are thrilled to announce that we're saying goodbye to Streamlit in our OSS and Deployed versions of Encord Active. Streamlit was an invaluable partner during our 6-month beta phase, aiding in swift prototyping. As we transition, we're focusing on a platform that is aligned with Encord’s core design principles and meets our customers' scalability and performance needs. You'll soon witness a completely refreshed version of Encord Active—stay tuned and feel free to contact us if you want an early test drive and the chance to offer pre-release feedback.

Thanks for reading — as always, the inbox at product@encord.com is always open — we’d love to hear your thoughts on the feedback on the above! Talk to you soon!