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Overview of Inference Engine Python* API

This API provides a simplified interface for Inference Engine functionality that allows you to:

  • Handle the models

  • Load and configure Inference Engine plugins based on device names

  • Perform inference in synchronous and asynchronous modes with arbitrary number of infer requests (the number of infer requests may be limited by target device capabilities)

For a guide to using the Inference Engine in your Python application, see the Python section of Integrate the Inference Engine.

Supported OSes

Inference Engine Python* API is supported on Ubuntu* 18.04 and 20.04, CentOS* 7.3 OSes, Raspbian* 9, Windows* 10 and macOS* 10.x.

Supported Python* versions:

Operating System

Supported Python* versions:

Ubuntu* 18.04

3.6, 3.7

Ubuntu* 20.04

3.6, 3.7, 3.8

Windows* 10

3.6, 3.7, 3.8

CentOS* 7.3

3.6, 3.7

macOS* 10.x

3.6, 3.7

Raspbian* 9

3.6, 3.7

Set Up the Environment

To configure the environment for the Inference Engine Python* API, run:

  • On Ubuntu* 18.04 or 20.04: source <INSTALL_DIR>/bin/setupvars.sh .

  • On CentOS* 7.4: source <INSTALL_DIR>/bin/setupvars.sh .

  • On macOS* 10.x: source <INSTALL_DIR>/bin/setupvars.sh .

  • On Raspbian* 9,: source <INSTALL_DIR>/bin/setupvars.sh .

  • On Windows* 10: call <INSTALL_DIR>\bin\setupvars.bat

The script automatically detects latest installed Python* version and configures required environment if the version is supported. If you want to use certain version of Python*, set the environment variable PYTHONPATH=<INSTALL_DIR>/python/<desired_python_version> after running the environment configuration script.

API Reference

For the complete Python API Reference, see Inference Engine Python* API Reference