Semantic searches are the future. Google is always working to figure out just what we’re looking for with those obscure search string – in essence, trying to read between the lines. Figuring out the meaning behind the search is a critical next step in web-search, and the next step after that is semantic image-based searches. We haven’t mentioned semantic visual search technology is quite some time, but the idea is certainly the next step in semantic search.
Nokia was working on the technology last year, and Vodafone has apparently been working to release their own image-based search technology. At CeBIT 2008, Vodafone announced that they’ll be trialling their Otello image-based search technology in Germany. The trial will allow Vodafone subscribers to find out more about certain articles in the German news-rag Bild – “find out more about specially-marked articles by photographing them with their mobile’s camera and sending the image to [the aforementioned paper].”
The technology could one day be used to search for more information on famous places, DVDs, toys, consumer electronics, etc. by simply taking a picture with your handset and searching for related information.
Bring on the semantic image-based searches! I’m done typing in a search string to find out the lowest online price of particular electro-gizmos.
[Via: Pocket-lint]