ER Mobile Visual Search Engine For iPhone

Posted on April 21, 2008
Filed Under iPhone General, iPhone Software, iPhone Web Apps

Evolution Robotics Inc. in companionship with Bandai Networks Co. Ltd announced the ER Search, mobile visual search engine, on new line of camera phones (Spring 2008).

Evolution Robotics focuses much on visualization because of the potential for future product developments. Their goal is to solve a problem in realistic settings by total visual interaction between a human being and a machine. Camera technologies are developing increasingly due to widespread application of web cameras, digital cams and cell-phone cams.

The launch of ER search is estimated the increase in mobile visual search market services up to $24 Billion by 2013 (ABI research) and this will enable the consumers in Japan to take pictures of surrounding objects and do on-line searches. Its download will be available for any KDDI customer with a previous AU camera phone.

ER Search works like using a traditional search engine, but with no typing any text through complicated menus. Instead of it, users snap a picture of any object and are immediately provided with relevant content. For instance, if you are looking for wine in a store, you can photograph wine label and get recommendations and experts reviews on it. So as soon as you see something you are interested in, just snap a picture and see all services and information on the spot. As Satoshi Oshita, CEO of Bandai Networks, said – “the search process is far easier and immediate than anything that has been available before.”

ER Search has the ViPR technology, which supports user-generated content to take new images, videos or places and tag them with links and content to expand the database. World-wide visual database will be created by showing the content results of other users who take similar pictures. A demonstration of visual search technology by Evolution Robotics on Apple’s iPhone can be viewed at Youtube.

ViPR can learn new objects and images (cover art on a music CD), without any special encoding. Also ViPR performs well on most cameras used on low cost mobile phones today.

Database already indexes over 150,000 music CD covers, as well as other mobile applications providing info and links. Even streaming video or images from TV are supported.