Label Images with Firebase ML on Apple platforms

You can use Firebase ML to label objects recognized in an image. See the overview for information about this API's features.

Before you begin

    If you have not already added Firebase to your app, do so by following the steps in the getting started guide.

    Use Swift Package Manager to install and manage Firebase dependencies.

    1. In Xcode, with your app project open, navigate to File > Add Packages.
    2. When prompted, add the Firebase Apple platforms SDK repository:
      3.   https://github.com/firebase/firebase-ios-sdk.git
    3. Choose the Firebase ML library.
    4. Add the -ObjC flag to the Other Linker Flags section of your target's build settings.
    5. When finished, Xcode will automatically begin resolving and downloading your dependencies in the background.

    Next, perform some in-app setup:

    1. In your app, import Firebase:

      Swift

      import FirebaseMLModelDownloader

      Objective-C

      @import FirebaseMLModelDownloader;

  1. If you have not already enabled Cloud-based APIs for your project, do so now:

    1. Open the Firebase ML APIs page of the Firebase console.

    2. If you have not already upgraded your project to the Blaze pricing plan, click Upgrade to do so. (You will be prompted to upgrade only if your project isn't on the Blaze plan.)

      Only Blaze-level projects can use Cloud-based APIs.

    3. If Cloud-based APIs aren't already enabled, click Enable Cloud-based APIs.

Now you are ready to label images.

1. Prepare the input image

Create a VisionImage object using a UIImage or a CMSampleBufferRef.

To use a UIImage:

  1. If necessary, rotate the image so that its imageOrientation property is .up.
  2. Create a VisionImage object using the correctly-rotated UIImage. Do not specify any rotation metadata—the default value, .topLeft, must be used.

    Swift

    let image = VisionImage(image: uiImage)

    Objective-C

    FIRVisionImage *image = [[FIRVisionImage alloc] initWithImage:uiImage];

To use a CMSampleBufferRef:

  1. Create a VisionImageMetadata object that specifies the orientation of the image data contained in the CMSampleBufferRef buffer.

    To get the image orientation:

    Swift

    func imageOrientation(
    deviceOrientation: UIDeviceOrientation,
    cameraPosition: AVCaptureDevice.Position
    ) -> VisionDetectorImageOrientation {
    switch deviceOrientation {
    case .portrait:
        return cameraPosition == .front ? .leftTop : .rightTop
    case .landscapeLeft:
        return cameraPosition == .front ? .bottomLeft : .topLeft
    case .portraitUpsideDown:
        return cameraPosition == .front ? .rightBottom : .leftBottom
    case .landscapeRight:
        return cameraPosition == .front ? .topRight : .bottomRight
    case .faceDown, .faceUp, .unknown:
        return .leftTop
    }
}

    Objective-C

    - (FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientation)
    imageOrientationFromDeviceOrientation:(UIDeviceOrientation)deviceOrientation
                           cameraPosition:(AVCaptureDevicePosition)cameraPosition {
  switch (deviceOrientation) {
    case UIDeviceOrientationPortrait:
      if (cameraPosition == AVCaptureDevicePositionFront) {
        return FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationLeftTop;
      } else {
        return FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationRightTop;
      }
    case UIDeviceOrientationLandscapeLeft:
      if (cameraPosition == AVCaptureDevicePositionFront) {
        return FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationBottomLeft;
      } else {
        return FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationTopLeft;
      }
    case UIDeviceOrientationPortraitUpsideDown:
      if (cameraPosition == AVCaptureDevicePositionFront) {
        return FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationRightBottom;
      } else {
        return FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationLeftBottom;
      }
    case UIDeviceOrientationLandscapeRight:
      if (cameraPosition == AVCaptureDevicePositionFront) {
        return FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationTopRight;
      } else {
        return FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationBottomRight;
      }
    default:
      return FIRVisionDetectorImageOrientationTopLeft;
  }
}

    Then, create the metadata object:

    Swift

    let cameraPosition = AVCaptureDevice.Position.back  // Set to the capture device you used.
let metadata = VisionImageMetadata()
metadata.orientation = imageOrientation(
    deviceOrientation: UIDevice.current.orientation,
    cameraPosition: cameraPosition
)

    Objective-C

    FIRVisionImageMetadata *metadata = [[FIRVisionImageMetadata alloc] init];
AVCaptureDevicePosition cameraPosition =
    AVCaptureDevicePositionBack;  // Set to the capture device you used.
metadata.orientation =
    [self imageOrientationFromDeviceOrientation:UIDevice.currentDevice.orientation
                                 cameraPosition:cameraPosition];
  2. Create a VisionImage object using the CMSampleBufferRef object and the rotation metadata:

    Swift

    let image = VisionImage(buffer: sampleBuffer)
image.metadata = metadata

    Objective-C

    FIRVisionImage *image = [[FIRVisionImage alloc] initWithBuffer:sampleBuffer];
image.metadata = metadata;

2. Configure and run the image labeler

To label objects in an image, pass the VisionImage object to the VisionImageLabeler's processImage() method.

  1. First, get an instance of VisionImageLabeler:

    Swift

    let labeler = Vision.vision().cloudImageLabeler()

// Or, to set the minimum confidence required:
// let options = VisionCloudImageLabelerOptions()
// options.confidenceThreshold = 0.7
// let labeler = Vision.vision().cloudImageLabeler(options: options)

    Objective-C

    FIRVisionImageLabeler *labeler = [[FIRVision vision] cloudImageLabeler];

// Or, to set the minimum confidence required:
// FIRVisionCloudImageLabelerOptions *options =
//         [[FIRVisionCloudImageLabelerOptions alloc] init];
// options.confidenceThreshold = 0.7;
// FIRVisionImageLabeler *labeler =
//         [[FIRVision vision] cloudImageLabelerWithOptions:options];

  2. Then, pass the image to the processImage() method:

    Swift

    labeler.process(image) { labels, error in
    guard error == nil, let labels = labels else { return }

    // Task succeeded.
    // ...
}

    Objective-C

    [labeler processImage:image
           completion:^(NSArray<FIRVisionImageLabel *> *_Nullable labels,
                        NSError *_Nullable error) {
               if (error != nil) { return; }

               // Task succeeded.
               // ...
           }];

3. Get information about labeled objects

If image labeling succeeds, an array of VisionImageLabel objects will be passed to the completion handler. From each object, you can get information about a feature recognized in the image.

For example:

Swift

for label in labels {
    let labelText = label.text
    let entityId = label.entityID
    let confidence = label.confidence
}

Objective-C

for (FIRVisionImageLabel *label in labels) {
   NSString *labelText = label.text;
   NSString *entityId = label.entityID;
   NSNumber *confidence = label.confidence;
}

Next steps