A version of the CamFind app from Image Searcher has been developed for the wearable device.
The startup’s image recognition app has been designed to work with Google Glass, enabling a wearer of the optical head-mounted display to look at something and CamFind will identify whatever the user may be looking at within seconds.
CamFind utilizes AI for image recognition.
The visual search app recognizes images by using artificial intelligence (AI). It combines this technology with crowdsourcing, giving humans the ability to correct the identification of images.
In an exclusive interview with VentureBeat, the CEO of Image Searcher, Dominik Mazur, said that in as little as 12 seconds, CamFind is capable of generating an accurate answer for an image query and it can take mere milliseconds if the computer vision recognizes it on the first try.
Brad Folkens, the chief technology officer said that “It really takes the friction out of the process.” Folkens added that “When we started this, we found that mobile search was broken. We make it so you can look at something and then get an answer. When you can do it fast, it turns from a novelty into a utility.”
Folkens did say that while 12 seconds might seem like a long time to wait for an answer when people have become accustomed to wanting immediate results, it is much faster than any other alternative available to users while they are on the go. For instance, the visual search app can identify clothing brands or shoe brands. Therefore, if a Google Glass wearer liked the shoes someone else was wearing, they could find out the brand. In the future, when Glass steps into the e-commerce space, consumers will be able to buy what they see when they are inspired to do so.
The CamFind Google Glass app is likely to succeed where Google Goggles failed.
A while back, Google had previously developed a smartphone app called Google Goggles, which allowed users to take a picture of a wine bottle and obtain useful information about it. However, this app did not work most of the time and the app was taken down by Google.
It is not yet known when the CamFind app will be available for Google Glass, but Image Searcher has submitted its application for approval.
