Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who can use SOI’s TATOR?

SOI’s TATOR can be used by scientists and ocean-enthusiasts alike to harness the power of video annotation to explore the deep sea. We want SOI’s version of TATOR to be an accessible platform that allows a wide variety of people to contribute to ocean exploration and understanding, through whatever capacity they are able. If you’re interested in gaining access, check out our page on user access to get into TATOR.

2. What formats are supported for exported data?

3. Can I share exported clips with collaborators outside SOI?

You can share exported clips publicly with collaborators or the general public outside of SOI. If you share with collaborators or distribute an exported clip on public mediums, please ensure that you/they abide to the licensing and citation requirements defined in our documentation. It is extremely important that this content is not used for commercial purposes and is properly attributed to its origin.

4. Are there tutorials or training sessions available?

We have made some video tutorials and explanations of navigation available in the Navigation SOI TATOR section. Beyond these resources and this documentation, we currently do not have any planned live or recorded training sessions. If you would be interested in a synchronous training session, please contact our team at datasystems@schmidtocean.org.

5. How is user activity monitored in TATOR?

In SOI’s TATOR, we collect some information about user activity to inform how the product is being used, in order to improve your overall experience and ensure that you have access to the best quality features. We record data regarding a user’s profile and information, annotations a user makes, and the videos present in TATOR. This data is not utilized on an individual level, but to observe larger trends about usage counts, annotation velocity, and usefulness of AI, for example.

6. When are new videos uploaded?

After a cruise is completed, the 4K videos are physically transported from the ship to our upload point at Google Cloud. After a few months when the video files are ready, the SOI team and CVision AI team will promptly upload these full-resolution videos to TATOR to make them available for your viewing and annotation. SOI will contact the relevant scientists associated with a certain cruise via email when their videos are uploaded into TATOR.

7. How does SOI choose which sensor & event data to share?

SOI imports most relevant and coherent sensor & event data from Sealog into SOI’s TATOR so that scientists can utilize this data to inform their annotations or make the process more efficient. If you feel there is certain data missing from the annotator, please contact our team at datasystems@schmidtocean.org to figure out a potential solution.

8. Who can I contact if I have questions?

If you are experiencing challenges or facing errors when using TATOR, feel free to email CVision AI at brian.tate@cvisionai.comor message the team on Discord in the #tator-issues channel. CVision AI can help with technical issues, platform errors, and basic usability.

If you have questions/concerns about how to annotate or questions related to SOI, feel free to email SOI at datasystems@schmidtocean.org or message the team on Discord in the #tator-issues channel. SOI can help with marine-related questions, data issues, and annotation protocol.