The Future Search - Visual Search
Wow, this is really exciting.
On Like.com’s existing site, consumers can search for items by submitting text or browsing categories of photos. But soon a new toolbar will allow Like.com shoppers to upload an image–say, a favorite pair of shoes ravaged by a pet–and search for similar replacements online, using the company’s image-mapping technology. Users will also be able to click on a photo they find while surfing, then search the Like.com database of images.
“It’s the first time you can search by submitting a photo,” said Munjal Shah, chief executive and co-founder of Like.com’s parent company, Riya. “Every other search before this was text-to-photo. And the hard part about that is, for some things you can’t come up with the words.”
Traditionally, searches on the Web were conducted with words. For example, an online shopper could type “red high heels” at search engines such as Google or Yahoo and receive a variety of text and photo results.
Matchmaking via Web
New image-mapping technology hones the process by creating a visual “fingerprint” of an image and searching for products with similar shapes, colors and textures.
It may be a fundamental change in the way people use the Internet, said Kevin G. Barnhurst, head of the department of communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
“The idea that you should be able to shift into the visual and think in visual terms is the next step. It’s exciting,” said Barnhurst. ” . . . And it fills a need.”
Pop over to read more of this piece of exciting news at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0701280432jan28,1,4280480.story?page=1&coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Tags:google, search engine, search marketing, visual search
Tags: Predictions
