Smartphone application to judge the quality of fish

Divya Patni

A mobile application that can judge the overall quality of a fish to the user. The Japanese sushi restaurant chain uses an AI-enabled app to test the quality of known tuna and that it is an important step in the traditional sushi preparation that requires years of training for experienced consumers. But can it erase the sense of human fish?
The app, called Tuna Scope that was developed by Japanese advertising company Dentsu Inc. It uses machine learning algorithms that are trained on thousands of images of cross sections of tuna tails, a meat cut that can reveal much about the fish constitution. From a single image, the app scans tuna to a five-point scale based on physical features such as meat sheen and fat placement. For someone with experience in fishing, these qualities speak volumes about the type of life the fish earns, what they eat and how much they worked for – hence, the taste that led to it. Dentsu claims that its AI captured the intangible nuances of tuna experimental ingenuity, and in a test comparing the app with human consumers, the app released that quadruple. But sushi experts and fishmonger experts are more aware of Tuna Scope’s ability to replace graders, especially those who buy high-quality sushi meat and sashimi. Keiko Yamamoto, a London-based chef and sushi coach, said it was quite possible to measure tuna based on observations only. Although we often judge the quality of products based on touch, Yamamoto says that with tuna, the look is everything. Yamamoto says the exact qualities that consumers want can be difficult to take in words but are not defined by a trained eye. High-quality tuna has a bright red color and a certain degree of translucency, as if the meat is almost light. It also seems possible to use AI to do basic quality testing, Yamamoto said. He added that it is also not surprising that Japan follows this technology, considering its growing population means that traditional skills are not always passed on to older generations. Currently, according to The Asahi Shimbun, it seems the Tuna Scope is only used to place fish in the Kura Sushi restaurant, which offers cheap sushi and uses other cost-saving devices such as robotic washing machines. Kura Sushi reportedly buys 70% of their fish from sushi overseas and has warned about its current customers going through the old disease. The app means that local agents can perform surveys in the area. But while this type of automation might work for a larger chain like Kura Sushi, it will not meet the needs of high-end chefs and sushi aficionados, according to Richard Cann, marketing manager at T&S Enterprises, a fish-selling company that sells many top Japanese restaurants in London, like Nobu in Mayfair and Zuma in Knightsbridge. This can be done by varying the buying process between the chains and the high-end restaurants. In the Tuna Scope merchandise, buyers use the app to judge the quality of the frozen tuna by photographing the tail section. But Cann says clothes like T&S Enterprise buy whole and uncooked tuna and separate themselves into some cuts. Right now,this app is only for testing purposes not officially rolled out in public so that it can give exact information to the user without dealing with an bugs in application.