Engineers build Pokédex that identifies Pokémon and provides game data

Kotaku reports that BigRig Creates and Mr. Volt have built what they call the "World's Smartest" Pokédex, a device that recognizes Pokémon, supplies game data and functions as a voice assistant.

BigRig Creates has released a 13-minute rundown detailing how he implemented the image recognition and data dumps, while Mr. Volt says he plans to release a video about the hardware at some point in the future. Much of the coding draws from the Pokémon Database, which includes lengthy Pokédex entries for all 1025 monsters with stats, learnable attacks, locations in each game and other information.

The device uses a reverse Google image search to identify monsters from toys, plushies and fan art. BigRig used his own voice to create an AI text-to-speech model that sounds closer to the anime's Pokédex while avoiding training on the performances of actors Nick Stellate and Eric Stuart, calling the approach "ethical" and "homegrown." In demonstrations it correctly identified several Pokémon, including a Ditto disguised as a Poipole, and recognized toys, plushes and hastily drawn Remoraid fan art, though it failed to identify a Spinda Labubu.

Key Topics

Tech, Bigrig Creates, Mr. Volt, Pokémon Database, Pokédex, Image Recognition