Google offers search by sight

BANGALORE, INDIA: As an answer to visual search implemented on smartphones with Amazon’s recent iPhone app, Google has unveiled its take on the technology.

Google Goggles lets you snap a photo of any object with your smartphone and use it as the basis of a Google search, according to a Mobile Computer report.

The report quotes Google saying that, the technology can recognize 3D objects like landmarks, 2D information like barcodes, paintings and logos, and will even use OCR to translate business cards into text — all much quicker that typing out search terms on the keyboard.

Google Goggles also uses GPS data and an augmented reality display to identify shops and businesses, so you can find out more about your local kebab shop just by pointing your smartphone camera at it, for example. Google also reckons that as the technology develops, it will also be able to do such clever things as identifying a tree from one of its leaves and suggest moves from a photo of a chessboard.

(mobilecomputermag.co.uk)