November 27, 2006 | Monday

Photobrowsers - the Future of Search?

By Richard Gregory - COO in Events |Search Engines |Microsoft |Search Technology

I was recently invited to present to the Manchester IDM on the “Future of Search” and during that sessions touched upon Microsoft’s Photosynth product.

Since that session a “Tech Preview” (read “demo") of the product has become available at the Live Labs site. I heartily encourage anyone to go and waste a coffee break flying around the Piazza San Marco in Venice and experience a new way of navigating a photo library.

But what of the commerical applications for this product? Is this just another gadget to gather online PR?

According to the recent presentations at the Microsoft Digital Day photosynth os one the the in-roads to both mobile and local search technology. given that Photoynth will amass terrabytes of photos of popular landmarks it is likely to become the backbone of a “Landmark Recognition Database” (you heard it hear first) that will allow lost travelers to find local shops with the aid of a simple camera phone. By taking a picture of a nearby landmark and uploading it to the photosynth servers, the tourist will be supplied with a name for that landmark, along with a map of the surrounding areas and local retailers of interest...bingo!