Slashdot Mirror
Searching by Image Instead of Keywords
Content based image retrieval (CBIR), the technique to search for images not by keywords, but by comparing features of the images themselves has been the focus of much research ever since the web emerged. Consider for instance adding CBIR to Google Images, where you would be able to search for images similar to a query image instead of using keywords. A research project at Penn State University has recently been applied to the biggest aviation photo database in the world with close to 800,000 images. You can search for images similar to a photo already in their database (click "View similar photos") or submit your own query image. Some queries generate better results than others but CBIR is certainly here to stay and will be standard in many image applications of the future.
I don't understand how this is relevant to slashdot...
If this technology has been in development for a long time, why hasn't google taken the ball and run with it?
Ya know I thought I was getting some kinda strange results when I put in a photo of a Supermarine Spitfire with an RAF circle-in-a-circle marking on each wing...