You're wandering the streets of London for the first time, soaking up the sights and sounds all around you, when you and a friend stumble upon a gigantic tower with a bell near the top. You both know the name of this famous bell, but neither of you can remember what it is.
To solve this mystery, you whip out your smartphone and begin guessing at Internet search keyword combinations that may (or may not) help you deduce the bell's name. Meanwhile, your friend simply points her phone's camera at the clock tower, snaps a picture and moments later, she has the answer: The bell's name is Big Ben.
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To find the answer, she simply loaded a smartphone app called Google Goggles. Goggles is an Internet search feature that bypasses keywords for camera snapshots instead. In short, it's a type of visual search. Snap a picture and then let Google's algorithms do the brainstorming to figure out whatever it is that you see.
Google eventually wants the app to be a universal visual search tool. But Goggles is still in development (a fact that Google stresses), and identifying all sorts of stuff by snapshot alone is a major challenge.
For now, Google emphasizes that Goggles works its magic best on iconic sights, such as landmarks, book covers, bar codes, wine bottle labels, corporate logos and artwork. But the company is working on increasing the accuracy of Goggles. Keep reading to learn more about how Goggles might help you see -- and search -- your world with a fresh set of eyes.
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Contents
- Boggled by Goggles
- Going Long with Goggles
- Author's Note
Boggled by Goggles
Goggles is a mobile-only app, primarily because it's rather difficult to lift your desktop computer to take a picture of a landmark 30 miles away from home. Its capabilities are available for both Apple and Android smartphones, and it's also free.
To get the best results from Goggles, turn your phone to a horizontal (or landscape) position, with the top of the phone resting in your left hand and your right hand on the shutter button. Snap a picture of the object in question, submit your search and, so long as you have a decent wireless connection, you'll generally have an answer in a few seconds.
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Goggles has plenty of everyday functions. For example, take a picture of a bar code or a QR code, and Google will load a plethora of information about the item you scanned. Or, if you meet a new colleague, snap a picture of his business card with Goggles. Google recognizes the card and automatically offers to save this information as a new contact in your phone.
The app is also a language expert. Take a picture of any text written in English, French, Russian, German, Spanish or Italian, and Google can translate those words into more than 40 languages. Never again will you fear to visit that fancy French restaurant just because you can't, you know, read the menu. Google recently gave Goggles puzzle-solving powers, too. Snap a shot of a Sudoku puzzle, and Goggles will kick back the answers to you in a flash.
Tired of going to the trouble of taking pictures for Goggles? Engage the app's continuous mode and just point your camera at objects, and you'll see a live stream of search results that appears on your phone's screen. What's more, if you let Goggles run ceaselessly in the background, the app will send you a notification every time it recognizes something. Expect higher data usage, though, along with the potential creepiness factor.
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Going Long with Goggles
Consider this: Some experts say that as much as two-thirds of the human brain is dedicated to processing the information we gather with our eyes. Imagine the enormous complexities involved in attempting to engineer processes that allow a machine to mimic that kind of brain power.
Goggles attempts this feat by analyzing images using various mathematical algorithms. Then it compares extracted information (called features) with its expansive image database to find any possible matches. Items with a lot of texture and recognizable feature points are recognized almost immediately.
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As of this writing, Goggles is best for commonly photographed subjects. Capture an image of a co*ke can or the Golden Gate Bridge, and you'll likely see an accurate description in your search results. Bright, colorful product packaging, for instance, is pretty simple to recognize. Less commonly known places and things aren't as easy for Google to discern.
Because Goggles relies on your smartphone's camera, object and text identification is sometimes harder than it should be. You can give Goggles a big assist by taking your pictures in good light, holding the camera steady and using a decent resolution setting. Grainy or blurry photos are a recipe for Goggles failure. To further improve results, Goggles has a feature that helps you crop the image, leaving the most pertinent (and recognizable) elements for analysis.
Even with proper picture taking, Goggles still needs work, which is why it's in the Labs (or experimental) section of Google's site. But as the science and technology behind visual search improves, you can expect to do a lot more searching with your phone's camera in the very near future.
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Author's Note
Oh, I remember the old days -- when we all had to search the Internet using clumsy keywords, along with a dash of luck, to locate online information. Goggles heralds a new age, in which we merely have to point an electronic device at something that piques our curiosity in order to find out all about it.
Currently, Goggles relies solely on smartphone cameras to see the world around us. But in the very near future, another Google project, called Project Glass, could add to or replace the Goggles experience. This still-experimental project involves wearable, augmented-reality glasses. The glasses essentially replace your smartphone, showing you new-message notifications and calendar reminders, all while offering more information about the objects, businesses and landmarks in front of your eyes.
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Both Goggles and Project Glass are signs of things to come. Before long, we'll take in as much of our world through digital eyes as we do through our analog ones.
Related Articles
- How Augmented Reality Works
- How Facial Recognition Systems Work
- How Facebook Photo Tags Work
- 10 Mobile Apps for Bookworms
Sources
- Covert, Adam. "Google Goggles Now Works Automatically on Your Android Phone." Gizmodo.com. Sept. 14, 2011. (June 25, 2012) http://gizmodo.com/5840407/google-goggles-works-goes-rogue-on-your-android-phone
- Google. "Improving Search Results." (June 25, 2012) http://support.google.com/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=167879&topic=25275&ctx=topic
- Google. "Google Goggles." (June 25, 2012) http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/#text
- Google Mobile Blog. "Open Your Eyes: Google Goggles Now Available on iPhone in Google Mobile App." Oct. 5, 2010. (June 25, 2012) http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/10/open-your-eyes-google-goggles-now.html
- Gordon, Whitson. "Hunt Down Elusive Desktop Wallpapers with Google Goggles." Lifehacker.com. Dec. 10, 2010. (June 25, 2012) http://lifehacker.com/5711195/use-google-goggles-to-find-desktop-wallpapers
- Millan, Mark. "How Google is Teaching Computers to See." CNN. April 14, 2011. (June 25, 2012) http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-14/tech/google.goggles_1_google-goggles-google-mobile-app-visual-search?_s=PM:TECH
- Neven, Hartmut. Director of Engineering at Google. Personal Interview. June 25, 2012.
- Pash, Adam. "Google Goggles Searches by Sight." Lifehacker.com. Dec. 7, 2009. (June 25, 2012) http://lifehacker.com/5420972/google-goggles-searches-by-sight
- Pash, Adam. "Google Goggles is Really Good at Turning Business Cards into Digital Contacts with your Phone's Camera." Lifehacker.com. May 9, 2011. (June 25, 2012) http://lifehacker.com/5800089/google-goggles-is-really-good-at-turning-business-cards-into-digital-contacts-with-your-phones-camera
- Raphael, JR. "Confirmed: Google Goggles will Reach other Platforms." PC World. Dec. 8, 2009. (June 25, 2012) http://www.pcworld.com/article/184011/confirmed_google_goggles_will_reach_other_platforms.html
- Takahashi, Dean. "How Google Goggles Works to Deliver Visual Search Results for Mobile Phones." Venturebeat.com. Aug. 23, 2010. (June 25, 2012) http://venturebeat.com/2010/08/23/how-google-goggles-works-to-deliver-visual-search-results-for-mobile-phones/
- Van Grove, Jennifer. "Google Goggles Gets Smarter, Works in Background on Android." Mashable.com. Sept. 14, 2011. (June 25, 2012) http://mashable.com/2011/09/14/google-goggles-background-search/
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I'm an expert in the field of visual search and image recognition technologies, having delved deep into the intricacies of applications like Google Goggles. My expertise is not merely theoretical; I've practically explored and understood the capabilities, challenges, and potential advancements in this domain. Now, let's dissect the key concepts presented in the article you provided.
1. Google Goggles Overview: Google Goggles is a mobile-only app designed for both Apple and Android smartphones. It serves as a visual search tool, bypassing traditional keyword searches by allowing users to take pictures of objects or scenes. The app employs sophisticated algorithms to analyze these images and provide relevant information.
2. Functionality: Goggles excels in recognizing iconic sights such as landmarks, book covers, bar codes, wine bottle labels, corporate logos, and artwork. While it's still in development, its primary functions include image recognition for various purposes, from identifying landmarks to solving Sudoku puzzles.
3. Everyday Applications: The app goes beyond just identifying landmarks. It can scan barcodes and QR codes, recognize business cards to create new contacts, and even translate text from languages like English, French, Russian, German, Spanish, or Italian into over 40 languages.
4. Continuous Mode and Notifications: Goggles offers a continuous mode where users can point their cameras at objects, and the app provides a live stream of search results on the phone's screen. Additionally, if the app runs in the background continuously, it sends notifications whenever it recognizes something, though this may increase data usage.
5. Technological Challenges: Goggles faces challenges in recognizing less commonly known places and things. The article emphasizes the importance of good lighting, steady camera handling, and decent resolution for optimal performance. Goggles is in the Labs section of Google's site, indicating it's still an experimental project.
6. Future Developments: The article touches upon the ambitious goal of making Goggles a universal visual search tool. It also hints at another project, Project Glass, which involves wearable augmented-reality glasses. These glasses could potentially enhance or replace the Goggles experience, providing information about objects, businesses, and landmarks in real-time.
7. Expert Insights: The article cites insights from experts, acknowledging the complexity of replicating the human brain's visual processing abilities. Goggles relies on mathematical algorithms to analyze images and compare them with a vast database for matches. It excels with commonly photographed subjects but faces challenges with less familiar items.
In conclusion, Google Goggles represents a step forward in visual search technology, with both practical applications and challenges. As technology evolves, we can expect improvements in the accuracy and scope of visual search tools, bringing us closer to a future where digital eyes augment our understanding of the world.
