Bounding box detection

Experimental

This feature is subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section of the Service Specific Terms. Pre-GA features are available "as is" and might have limited support. For more information, see the launch stage descriptions.

To see an example of bounding box detection, run the "Spatial understanding with Gemini 2.0" notebook in one of the following environments:

Open in Colab | Open in Colab Enterprise | Open in Vertex AI Workbench | View on GitHub

In this experimental launch, we are providing developers with a powerful tool for object detection and localization within images and video. By accurately identifying and delineating objects with bounding boxes, developers can unlock a wide range of applications and enhance the intelligence of their projects.

Key Benefits:

• Simple: Integrate object detection capabilities into your applications with ease, regardless of your computer vision expertise.
• Customizable: Produce bounding boxes based on custom instructions (e.g. "I want to see bounding boxes of all the green objects in this image"), without having to train a custom model.

Technical Details:

• Input: Your prompt and associated images or video frames.
• Output: Bounding boxes in the [y_min, x_min, y_max, x_max] format. The top left corner is the origin. The x and y axis go horizontally and vertically, respectively. Coordinate values are normalized to 0-1000 for every image.
• Visualization: AI Studio users will see bounding boxes plotted within the UI. Vertex AI users should visualize their bounding boxes through custom visualization code.

Python

Install

pip install --upgrade google-genai

To learn more, see the SDK reference documentation.

Set environment variables to use the Gen AI SDK with Vertex AI:

# Replace the `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT` and `GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION` values
# with appropriate values for your project.
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION=global
export GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI=True

import requests
from google import genai
from google.genai.types import (
    GenerateContentConfig,
    HarmBlockThreshold,
    HarmCategory,
    HttpOptions,
    Part,
    SafetySetting,
)
from PIL import Image, ImageColor, ImageDraw
from pydantic import BaseModel

# Helper class to represent a bounding box
class BoundingBox(BaseModel):
    """
    Represents a bounding box with its 2D coordinates and associated label.

    Attributes:
        box_2d (list[int]): A list of integers representing the 2D coordinates of the bounding box,
                            typically in the format [y_min, x_min, y_max, x_max].
        label (str): A string representing the label or class associated with the object within the bounding box.
    """

    box_2d: list[int]
    label: str

# Helper function to plot bounding boxes on an image
def plot_bounding_boxes(image_uri: str, bounding_boxes: list[BoundingBox]) -> None:
    """
    Plots bounding boxes on an image with labels, using PIL and normalized coordinates.

    Args:
        image_uri: The URI of the image file.
        bounding_boxes: A list of BoundingBox objects. Each box's coordinates are in
                        normalized [y_min, x_min, y_max, x_max] format.
    """
    with Image.open(requests.get(image_uri, stream=True, timeout=10).raw) as im:
        width, height = im.size
        draw = ImageDraw.Draw(im)

        colors = list(ImageColor.colormap.keys())

        for i, bbox in enumerate(bounding_boxes):
            # Scale normalized coordinates to image dimensions
            abs_y_min = int(bbox.box_2d[0] / 1000 * height)
            abs_x_min = int(bbox.box_2d[1] / 1000 * width)
            abs_y_max = int(bbox.box_2d[2] / 1000 * height)
            abs_x_max = int(bbox.box_2d[3] / 1000 * width)

            color = colors[i % len(colors)]

            # Draw the rectangle using the correct (x, y) pairs
            draw.rectangle(
                ((abs_x_min, abs_y_min), (abs_x_max, abs_y_max)),
                outline=color,
                width=4,
            )
            if bbox.label:
                # Position the text at the top-left corner of the box
                draw.text((abs_x_min + 8, abs_y_min + 6), bbox.label, fill=color)

        im.show()

client = genai.Client(http_options=HttpOptions(api_version="v1"))

config = GenerateContentConfig(
    system_instruction="""
    Return bounding boxes as an array with labels.
    Never return masks. Limit to 25 objects.
    If an object is present multiple times, give each object a unique label
    according to its distinct characteristics (colors, size, position, etc..).
    """,
    temperature=0.5,
    safety_settings=[
        SafetySetting(
            category=HarmCategory.HARM_CATEGORY_DANGEROUS_CONTENT,
            threshold=HarmBlockThreshold.BLOCK_ONLY_HIGH,
        ),
    ],
    response_mime_type="application/json",
    response_schema=list[BoundingBox],
)

image_uri = "https://storage.googleapis.com/generativeai-downloads/images/socks.jpg"

response = client.models.generate_content(
    model="gemini-2.5-flash",
    contents=[
        Part.from_uri(
            file_uri=image_uri,
            mime_type="image/jpeg",
        ),
        "Output the positions of the socks with a face. Label according to position in the image.",
    ],
    config=config,
)
print(response.text)
plot_bounding_boxes(image_uri, response.parsed)

# Example response:
# [
#     {"box_2d": [6, 246, 386, 526], "label": "top-left light blue sock with cat face"},
#     {"box_2d": [234, 649, 650, 863], "label": "top-right light blue sock with cat face"},
# ]

Go

Learn how to install or update the Go.

To learn more, see the SDK reference documentation.

Set environment variables to use the Gen AI SDK with Vertex AI:

# Replace the `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT` and `GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION` values
# with appropriate values for your project.
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION=global
export GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI=True

import (
	"context"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"image"
	"image/color"
	"image/draw"
	"image/jpeg"
	"io"
	"net/http"

	"google.golang.org/genai"
)

// BoundingBox represents a bounding box with coordinates and label.
type BoundingBox struct {
	Box2D []int  `json:"box_2d"`
	Label string `json:"label"`
}

// plotBoundingBoxes downloads the image and overlays bounding boxes.
func plotBoundingBoxes(imageURI string, boundingBoxes []BoundingBox) error {
	resp, err := http.Get(imageURI)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to download image: %w", err)
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	img, err := jpeg.Decode(resp.Body)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode image: %w", err)
	}

	bounds := img.Bounds()
	rgba := image.NewRGBA(bounds)
	draw.Draw(rgba, bounds, img, bounds.Min, draw.Src)

	// Simple red color for bounding boxes
	red := color.RGBA{255, 0, 0, 255}

	for _, bbox := range boundingBoxes {
		// scale normalized coordinates [0–1000] to absolute pixels
		yMin := bbox.Box2D[0] * bounds.Dy() / 1000
		xMin := bbox.Box2D[1] * bounds.Dx() / 1000
		yMax := bbox.Box2D[2] * bounds.Dy() / 1000
		xMax := bbox.Box2D[3] * bounds.Dx() / 1000

		// draw rectangle border
		for x := xMin; x <= xMax; x++ {
			rgba.Set(x, yMin, red)
			rgba.Set(x, yMax, red)
		}
		for y := yMin; y <= yMax; y++ {
			rgba.Set(xMin, y, red)
			rgba.Set(xMax, y, red)
		}
	}

	return nil
}

func generateBoundingBoxesWithText(w io.Writer) error {
	ctx := context.Background()

	client, err := genai.NewClient(ctx, &genai.ClientConfig{
		HTTPOptions: genai.HTTPOptions{APIVersion: "v1"},
	})
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create genai client: %w", err)
	}

	imageURI := "https://storage.googleapis.com/generativeai-downloads/images/socks.jpg"

	// Schema definition for []BoundingBox
	schema := &genai.Schema{
		Type: genai.TypeArray,
		Items: &genai.Schema{
			Type: genai.TypeObject,
			Properties: map[string]*genai.Schema{
				"box_2d": {
					Type:  genai.TypeArray,
					Items: &genai.Schema{Type: genai.TypeInteger},
				},
				"label": {Type: genai.TypeString},
			},
			Required: []string{"box_2d", "label"},
		},
	}

	config := &genai.GenerateContentConfig{
		SystemInstruction: &genai.Content{
			Parts: []*genai.Part{{
				Text: "Return bounding boxes as an array with labels. Never return masks. Limit to 25 objects.",
			}},
		},
		Temperature:      float32Ptr(0.5),
		ResponseMIMEType: "application/json",
		ResponseSchema:   schema,
		SafetySettings: []*genai.SafetySetting{
			{
				Category:  genai.HarmCategoryDangerousContent,
				Threshold: genai.HarmBlockThresholdBlockOnlyHigh,
			},
		},
	}

	contents := []*genai.Content{
		{
			Role: genai.RoleUser,
			Parts: []*genai.Part{
				{
					FileData: &genai.FileData{
						FileURI:  imageURI,
						MIMEType: "image/jpeg",
					},
				},
				{Text: "Output the positions of the socks with a face. Label according to position in the image."},
			},
		},
	}

	resp, err := client.Models.GenerateContent(ctx, "gemini-2.5-flash", contents, config)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to generate content: %w", err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintln(w, resp.Text())

	// Parse into []BoundingBox
	var boxes []BoundingBox
	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(resp.Text()), &boxes); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse bounding boxes: %w", err)
	}

	// Example response:
	//	Box: (962,113)-(2158,1631) Label: top left sock with face
	//	Box: (2656,721)-(3953,2976) Label: top right sock with face
	//...

	return plotBoundingBoxes(imageURI, boxes)
}

func float32Ptr(v float32) *float32 { return &v }

Node.js

Install

npm install @google/genai

To learn more, see the SDK reference documentation.

Set environment variables to use the Gen AI SDK with Vertex AI:

# Replace the `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT` and `GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION` values
# with appropriate values for your project.
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION=global
export GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI=True

const {GoogleGenAI} = require('@google/genai');

const {createCanvas, loadImage} = require('canvas');
const fetch = require('node-fetch');
const fs = require('fs');

const GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT = process.env.GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT;
const GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION = process.env.GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION || 'global';

async function fetchImageAsBase64(uri) {
  const response = await fetch(uri);
  const buffer = await response.buffer();
  return buffer.toString('base64');
}

async function plotBoundingBoxes(imageUri, boundingBoxes) {
  console.log('Creating bounding boxes');
  const image = await loadImage(imageUri);
  const canvas = createCanvas(image.width, image.height);
  const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');

  ctx.drawImage(image, 0, 0);

  const colors = ['red', 'blue', 'green', 'orange'];

  boundingBoxes.forEach((bbox, i) => {
    const [yMin, xMin, yMax, xMax] = bbox.box_2d;

    const absYMin = Math.floor((yMin / 1000) * image.height);
    const absXMin = Math.floor((xMin / 1000) * image.width);
    const absYMax = Math.floor((yMax / 1000) * image.height);
    const absXMax = Math.floor((xMax / 1000) * image.width);

    ctx.strokeStyle = colors[i % colors.length];
    ctx.lineWidth = 4;
    ctx.strokeRect(absXMin, absYMin, absXMax - absXMin, absYMax - absYMin);

    ctx.fillStyle = colors[i % colors.length];
    ctx.font = '20px Arial';
    ctx.fillText(bbox.label, absXMin + 8, absYMin + 20);
  });

  fs.writeFileSync('output.png', canvas.toBuffer('image/png'));
  console.log('Saved output to file: output.png');
}

async function createBoundingBox(
  projectId = GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT,
  location = GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION
) {
  const client = new GoogleGenAI({
    vertexai: true,
    project: projectId,
    location: location,
  });

  const systemInstruction = `
    Return bounding boxes as an array with labels.
    Never return masks. Limit to 25 objects.
    If an object is present multiple times, give each object a unique label
    according to its distinct characteristics (colors, size, position, etc).
  `;

  const safetySettings = [
    {
      category: 'HARM_CATEGORY_DANGEROUS_CONTENT',
      threshold: 'BLOCK_ONLY_HIGH',
    },
  ];

  const imageUri =
    'https://storage.googleapis.com/generativeai-downloads/images/socks.jpg';
  const base64Image = await fetchImageAsBase64(imageUri);

  const boundingBoxSchema = {
    type: 'ARRAY',
    description: 'List of bounding boxes for detected objects',
    items: {
      type: 'OBJECT',
      title: 'BoundingBox',
      description: 'Represents a bounding box with coordinates and label',
      properties: {
        box_2d: {
          type: 'ARRAY',
          description:
            'Bounding box coordinates in format [y_min, x_min, y_max, x_max]',
          items: {
            type: 'INTEGER',
            format: 'int32',
          },
          minItems: 4,
          maxItems: 4,
        },
        label: {
          type: 'STRING',
          description: 'Label describing the object within the bounding box',
        },
      },
      required: ['box_2d', 'label'],
    },
  };

  const response = await client.models.generateContent({
    model: 'gemini-2.5-flash',
    contents: [
      {
        role: 'user',
        parts: [
          {
            text: 'Output the positions of the socks with a face. Label according to position in the image',
          },
          {
            inlineData: {
              data: base64Image,
              mimeType: 'image/jpeg',
            },
          },
        ],
      },
    ],
    config: {
      systemInstruction: systemInstruction,
      safetySettings: safetySettings,
      responseMimeType: 'application/json',
      temperature: 0.5,
      responseSchema: boundingBoxSchema,
    },
  });

  const candidate = response.candidates[0].content.parts[0].text;
  const boundingBoxes = JSON.parse(candidate);

  console.log('Bounding boxes:', boundingBoxes);

  await plotBoundingBoxes(imageUri, boundingBoxes);
  return boundingBoxes;
}

Java

Learn how to install or update the Java.

To learn more, see the SDK reference documentation.

Set environment variables to use the Gen AI SDK with Vertex AI:

# Replace the `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT` and `GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION` values
# with appropriate values for your project.
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION=global
export GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI=True

import static com.google.genai.types.Type.Known.ARRAY;
import static com.google.genai.types.Type.Known.INTEGER;
import static com.google.genai.types.Type.Known.OBJECT;
import static com.google.genai.types.Type.Known.STRING;

import com.google.genai.Client;
import com.google.genai.types.Content;
import com.google.genai.types.GenerateContentConfig;
import com.google.genai.types.GenerateContentResponse;
import com.google.genai.types.HarmBlockThreshold;
import com.google.genai.types.HarmCategory;
import com.google.genai.types.HttpOptions;
import com.google.genai.types.Part;
import com.google.genai.types.SafetySetting;
import com.google.genai.types.Schema;
import com.google.gson.Gson;
import com.google.gson.reflect.TypeToken;
import java.awt.BasicStroke;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.lang.reflect.Type;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;

public class BoundingBoxWithTxtImg {

  public static class BoundingBox {
    List<Integer> box2d;
    String label;

    public List<Integer> getBox2d() {
      return box2d;
    }

    public String getLabel() {
      return label;
    }
  }

  // Plot bounding boxes on an image and save it to a file.
  public static void plotBoundingBoxes(String imageUrl, List<BoundingBox> boundingBoxes)
      throws IOException {
    URL url = new URL(imageUrl);
    BufferedImage image = ImageIO.read(url);

    int width = image.getWidth();
    int height = image.getHeight();

    Graphics2D graphics2D = image.createGraphics();
    graphics2D.setStroke(new BasicStroke(4));
    graphics2D.setFont(new Font("Arial", Font.PLAIN, 18));

    // Define a list of colors to cycle through.
    List<Color> colors =
        Arrays.asList(
            Color.RED,
            Color.GREEN,
            Color.BLUE,
            Color.YELLOW,
            Color.CYAN,
            Color.MAGENTA,
            Color.ORANGE);

    for (int i = 0; i < boundingBoxes.size(); i++) {
      BoundingBox boundingBox = boundingBoxes.get((i));
      List<Integer> box2d = boundingBox.getBox2d();

      // Scale normalized coordinates (0-1000) to image dimensions.
      int topY = (int) (box2d.get(0) / 1000.0 * height);
      int leftX = (int) (box2d.get(1) / 1000.0 * width);
      int bottomY = (int) (box2d.get(2) / 1000.0 * height);
      int rightX = (int) (box2d.get(3) / 1000.0 * width);

      Color color = colors.get(i % colors.size());
      graphics2D.setColor(color);

      // Draw the rectangle.
      graphics2D.drawRect(leftX, topY, rightX - leftX, bottomY - topY);

      // Draw the label text.
      if (boundingBox.getLabel() != null && !boundingBox.getLabel().isEmpty()) {
        graphics2D.drawString(boundingBox.getLabel(), leftX + 8, topY + 20);
      }
    }
    graphics2D.dispose();

    // Write the image to a file.
    String outputFilePath = "resources/output/bounding-boxes-socks.jpg";
    ImageIO.write(image, "jpg", new File(outputFilePath));
    System.out.println("Successfully saved image to: " + outputFilePath);
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String model = "gemini-2.5-flash";
    generateContent(model);
  }

  // Shows how to send a multimodal prompt to the model and get a structured JSON response
  // containing bounding box data, and then uses that data to draw the boxes on the original
  // image, saving it to a new file.
  public static String generateContent(String modelId) throws IOException {
    // Client Initialization. Once created, it can be reused for multiple requests.
    try (Client client =
        Client.builder()
            .location("global")
            .httpOptions(HttpOptions.builder().apiVersion("v1").build())
            .vertexAI(true)
            .build()) {

      String systemInstruction =
          "Return bounding boxes as an array with labels.\n"
              + " Never return masks. Limit to 25 objects.\n"
              + " If an object is present multiple times, give each object a unique label\n"
              + " according to its distinct characteristics (colors, size, position, etc..).";

      // Define the response schema.
      Schema responseSchema =
          Schema.builder()
              .type(ARRAY)
              .items(
                  Schema.builder()
                      .type(OBJECT)
                      .properties(
                          Map.of(
                              "box2d",
                              Schema.builder()
                                  .type(ARRAY)
                                  .items(Schema.builder().type(INTEGER).build())
                                  .build(),
                              "label",
                              Schema.builder().type(STRING).build()))
                      .required("box2d", "label")
                      .build())
              .build();

      // Define the GenerateContentConfig and set the response schema.
      GenerateContentConfig contentConfig =
          GenerateContentConfig.builder()
              .systemInstruction(Content.fromParts(Part.fromText(systemInstruction)))
              .temperature(0.5F)
              .safetySettings(
                  SafetySetting.builder()
                      .category(HarmCategory.Known.HARM_CATEGORY_DANGEROUS_CONTENT)
                      .threshold(HarmBlockThreshold.Known.BLOCK_ONLY_HIGH)
                      .build())
              .responseMimeType("application/json")
              .responseSchema(responseSchema)
              .build();

      String imageUri = "https://storage.googleapis.com/generativeai-downloads/images/socks.jpg";
      URL url = new URL(imageUri);

      try (InputStream inputStream = url.openStream()) {
        byte[] imageBytes = inputStream.readAllBytes();

        String prompt =
            "Output the positions of the socks with a face."
                + " Label according to position in the image";

        GenerateContentResponse response =
            client.models.generateContent(
                modelId,
                Content.fromParts(Part.fromBytes(imageBytes, "image/jpeg"), Part.fromText(prompt)),
                contentConfig);

        System.out.println(response.text());
        // Example response:
        // [
        //  {"box2d": [24, 24, 521, 526], "label": "top left light blue cat face sock"},
        //  {"box2d": [238, 627, 649, 863], "label": "top right light blue cat face sock"}
        // ]

        // Use Gson to parse the JSON string into a list of BoundingBox objects.
        Gson gson = new Gson();
        Type boundingBoxListType = new TypeToken<List<BoundingBox>>() {}.getType();
        List<BoundingBox> boundingBoxes = gson.fromJson(response.text(), boundingBoxListType);

        // Plot the bounding boxes on the image.
        if (boundingBoxes != null) {
          plotBoundingBoxes(imageUri, boundingBoxes);
        }

        return response.text();
      }
    }
  }
}