The tropical forests of Costa Rica and the woods of Finland taught me two important things: 

1.⁠ ⁠“We all need to reconnect with nature to let go of the stress of modern life. Learning to observe our surroundings, and admiring the beauty of wildlife, are the first steps we can take to start respecting ourselves and the environment.”

2.⁠ ⁠⁠”I like birds.” 

I know it can be hard to find a balance between taking care of yourself and working (or studying). In the past months, I’ve been looking for a way to be more connected with nature, even when I couldn’t be physically present outside. As much as I would have loved to, I cannot always be in some birdwatching tower or a lost forest.

I realised that one possible solution to this would have been being able to relax by watching all those cute little birds that I saw from my window, but anywhere and at any time. So I decided to build a bird feeder with a camera that recognises and classifies birds, and allows me to watch them in real-time. Also, since I don’t want to miss out on the small visitors that come by while I am studying, I added one more feature: anytime a bird is detected by the camera, it takes a picture of it, and uploads it to a website, so that I can check it whenever I have time. Cool right?

I am so proud of what was done in just one and a half months from the start. I have to say, it has been really fun to work on this: web development, machine learning, and software engineering; this project had it all and I’m thankful for all the new skills that I’ve acquired. It’s always a good feeling to learn new things and put my abilities to the test in all those various fields.

But I would have not been able to do all of this alone. Luckily I found an amazing team that helped me build this, and think about a potential business related to this product. I want to thank them so much for having welcomed the idea with a lot of enthusiasm and energy, and for being so lovely and supportive during the whole process. Love you guys <3

P.S. We’re still working on it to improve it: we will increase the number of species recognised, the design of the final product will be refined, and other useful functionalities will be added. 

So, as we (young people) always say: STAY TUNED!

In the spring of 2023 Fresco was born with the goal of connecting people with same interests and offering an alternative way of enjoying a night out with friends. We started organising cultural events in San Benedetto del Tronto that have seen partecipating a lot of different artists, musician and DJs. In our events you can find the best live music and DJ sets, together with art exhibitions surrounding the whole place.

On our website (www.fresco.wtf) you can find all the latest news about the past events and the ones yet to come. We also post there some interviews and articles written by our friends around topics connected to our values.

We'd love to build a community around this project, where people can get to know each other and, who knows, maybe even create something together.

For more information about this, check the website!