The Capture tab on mobile is built around a single capture ring and a four-mode picker — Voice, Photo, Video, Text. Tap the ring to start, then every mode ends on the same review screen: name → collection → save. Pick a mode, capture, save. Everything syncs to your desktop within seconds.
Across every mode you can leave the name blank to let AI title it for you, and pick or create a collection inline — no need to leave the capture screen.
Voice
Bower records your spoken observations and transcribes them in real time using scientific speech recognition trained on domain vocabulary. The transcript becomes an editable note, with the original recording attached.
Tap the ring in Voice mode
A full-screen recording view opens with a live waveform and timer. You can pause and resume.
Speak your observation
Bird listens and transcribes in real time. Recordings can be up to 30 minutes long.
Tap stop, then review and save
Play back the recording, set a name (or let AI do it), choose a collection, and save. The transcript syncs to desktop within seconds, with the original audio always attached — the source of truth is never lost.
A few things worth knowing:
- Bower recognises scientific terminology: units, chemical names, numeric values, and Latin binomials.
- If a value looks outside an expected range, Bird will flag it after capture — not during.
- Accuracy improves as Bower learns your terminology and accent over time.
- You can rate the quality of transcriptions and text extractions. Both positive and negative feedback helps us improve accuracy for scientific content.
Photo
Point your camera at a handwritten notebook, printed document, instrument display, or sample label. Bower reads the image and extracts the text as an editable note. (This is sometimes called OCR — optical character recognition.)
Tap the ring in Photo mode
Take a new photo with your camera, or choose an existing image from your gallery.
Choose Photo note or Equipment
A toggle on the review screen lets you save it as a normal Photo note, or as Equipment — in which case Bird reads the nameplate and pre-fills make, model, and serial straight into your Equipment Register. Review and save
The original image is attached to the note with its metadata. For photos taken on your phone, Bower reads the embedded EXIF data — actual capture time, GPS location, and device model — shown in the attachment panel. Tap the location to open it in Maps.
What Bower can read
- Printed text and tables (approximately 98% accuracy)
- Handwritten lab notebooks
- Instrument displays and gauges
- Mixed handwriting and print
- Sample storage labels
Extracted tables are inline-editable, low-confidence regions are highlighted, and everything becomes searchable immediately.
Video
Record a clip up to 5 minutes. Bird transcribes the audio, generates chapters, and writes a summary — so a quick walkthrough of a setup or a result becomes a searchable, structured note.
Tap the ring in Video mode
Your phone’s camera opens to record a clip.
Review and save
Preview the clip, name it (or let AI do it), choose a collection, and save. The video is attached to the note and processed in the background.
Text
Type or paste a note directly. Use Text mode when you want to jot something quickly without recording — it lands in your workspace the same way every other capture does.
What happens after capture
Every capture is held safely on your device the moment you make it, so a dropped connection or an accidental refresh won’t lose it. Once saved, it syncs to your desktop workspace in real time — no manual upload — and is fully searchable, editable, and available to Bird for summarisation and retrieval. 
