ViPR Mobile Visual Search Engine for iPhone

That's awesome. I'd definitely get my hands on that. :)

This doesn't really have anything to do with iPhone though. Any camera-phone with email capabilities should be able to do this.

This doesn't really have anything to do with iPhone though. Any camera-phone with email capabilities should be able to do this.

Well in the final native iPhone version, I think it'll be able to find what the object is without having to email you the results, and it'll just pop up in the app.

I think it's a cool idea, but honestly I probably would never use it except maybe for showing it to someone to hear them go 'wow'.

depending on how flexible the pattern recognition is would be nice if you could just take a picture of an object. I'm guessing that's much harder, since you have a much larger pool of objects.

But, still, would be nice to take a photo of something and look it up on amazon.

Could also be used as a Delicious Library type application. Just take a photo of your CD's or DVD's and have them automatically listed.

arn

its kinda cool but i wonder how many people are going to go through all those hoops when it seems like a google search would be faster and more efficient.. not really seeing any real-world applications if it can only recognize mainstream media... cool idea though and if they were able to get alot of objects i would def use (think your travelling and see some crazy statue.. take picture and learn what its about)

Well in the final native iPhone version, I think it'll be able to find what the object is without having to email you the results, and it'll just pop up in the app.

So why not do it in Java and provide it to all J2ME-capable phones? It sounds more like an AppleScript or Automator task than an actual app - the native part won't be doing anything more than is already done the manual, non-platform specific way. It might be using a WebKit POST rather than email, but it won't be detecting stuff itself; it will just be sending/receiving data. It could be done today via Safari really. Select image... Submit... "Here's your item".

The technology seems pretty clever and cool, but announcing it for iPhone seems more like flag-waving bandwagon-hopping when you realize how little it depends on the phone. Even with just Safari (or Opera, or whatever browser your phone is burdened with), bookmark the results it finds and you're building yourself a library. Unless, as arn says, they develop it further, like Delicious Library.

So, right now, not really seeing the iPhoneness of it all.

Great technology and creativity.
Very unpractical.

It's much easier to Google.

I had a similar idea when the My Dream app Contest was running and I called it 'Scanalysis'. I think it's truly a great idea but only if they implement it as a software app that can recognize a growing database of objects.
The email solution appears to be for demo/testing purposes.

Imagine going traveling and taking a picture of a building (inside their custom app) and the app giving you a wealth of information instantly.
If it's a museum it could give you the history, ticket prices, videos, photos, contact details, opening times, map/floorplans etc

You would have to write some nifty algorithms that collect data from a range of sources in order to grow the database of objects it can recognize. (Amazon, Google, Wikipedia etc)
You could then throw open your database to a self-editing community too in the style of a Wiki and then the idea would grow way beyond what is on show here.


This is the kind of application of the iPhone technology that people should be looking for in my opinion... same with the Starbucks QuickOrder concept. These are the ideas that could usher in the new era of personal/mobile computing. :)

My Original 'My Dream App' Idea:
http://mydreamapp.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=551&p=1

Well in the final native iPhone version, I think it'll be able to find what the object is without having to email you the results, and it'll just pop up in the app.

This app (and I have a hard time calling it that) clearly has to go back to a server to do the image recognition and item searching... After all the iPhone no matter what the storage size couldn't possibly hold **EVERYTHING** that this app is purportedly capable of identifying. Even if you kept it to just DVD items or books the iPhone would be busting at the seams if it tried to hold all of that info.

The reason I'm not even sure of this is an App is due to the workflow that was described in the video...

1 - Use Apple Camera software to take pic
2 - Use Apple E-Mail to send pic to their server
3 - Receive email (again using Apples E-Mail) to view a rich text or HTML with the match information.

Where does a 3rd party 'iPhone App' come into play in this process?! I mean it's a cool service (I guess) but from the looks of it isn't really an iPhone app (unless I'm missing something).

Dave

This app (and I have a hard time calling it that) clearly has to go back to a server to do the image recognition and item searching... After all the iPhone no matter what the storage size couldn't possibly hold **EVERYTHING** that this app is purportedly capable of identifying. Even if you kept it to just DVD items or books the iPhone would be busting at the seams if it tried to hold all of that info.

The reason I'm not even sure of this is an App is due to the workflow that was described in the video...

1 - Use Apple Camera software to take pic
2 - Use Apple E-Mail to send pic to their server
3 - Receive email (again using Apples E-Mail) to view a rich text or HTML with the match information.

Where does a 3rd party 'iPhone App' come into play in this process?! I mean it's a cool service (I guess) but from the looks of it isn't really an iPhone app (unless I'm missing something).

Dave

I think it's just a case of us getting carried away and thinking how great the idea 'could' be if you stripped away the camera/email elements and packaged it all in one web connected app, developed using the iPhone SDK. ;)