I just wonder how every clicks and color filling we’re doing contributes to brain research… I feel we’re just solving a puzzle the answer of which is already defined by AI because the color is filled “automatically” when we click the neurons. And recently there’s little announcement or notification of the research’s progress… is this really helpful to research??
Hi lenom,
Welcome to Eyewire and thanks for the questions!
When Eyewire’s dataset was imaged and prepared for research, it underwent a process called “segmentation”. Segmentation is when the computer/AI is trained to color in all the different segments in the dataset (the 2D slides). However, the AI isn’t always correct during this process and that’s where we come in to help out! Eyewirers help correct any errors such as a merger where the AI colored over the lines and incorrectly merges unrelated segments to each other. Eyewire gameplay is submitting solutions that tell the computer that certain segments are related to each other. Connecting segments together grows a branch (dendrite) and fully maps out the structure of the cell. It helps to think of all the colored segments as building blocks.
While we haven’t recently published a paper, we are still working towards research goals. Currently, we are mapping all the remaining cells in the Inner Nuclear Layer of the mouse retina. You can read more about our current goal here: Eyewire prepares to enter… the Outer Realms!
Cheers,
M.
1 Like