Google Goggles is a visual search technology developed by Google. So instead of typing in a search query or speaking it, you use the camera on your phone to take a picture of an image or barcode. It also employs augmented reality. For instance, you are in front of a business and you would like more information about the business. You hold your phone over the store, and without snapping a shot, the name of the store appears below the image. You would then click on the name to read more about it. This sounds like an excellent iPhone app, right? Well, not exactly. Currently it is only available for Google’s Android phones, but don’t fret, it’s coming soon to an iPhone near you.
The Register out of the UK is reporting that Google is in fact working on a version of Google Goggles for the iPhone that should be out by the end of the year. This opens a whole new arena for search. I thought it was cool to use Google’s voice search on the iPhone. In fact, the voice recognition was pretty spot on. Rarely did it misinterpret what I was saying; however, like any other voice recognition application, it fell short in noisy areas. I digress. With visual search, the possibilities are as endless as Google’s database. Basically, if Google has the image in their database, your search results will return fine. However, if certain things, like food or plant life for example, are not in Google’s database, then your search will return with no results. As this technology grows, I don’t see this as being an issue.
I am pretty excited that Google Goggles is coming to the iPhone later this year. How about you? Do you think that Google Goggles is a useful tool, or simply a gimmick for Google to get more search hits or ad revenue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. I leave you now with a Google video that gives a small overview of what Goggles is capable of doing.
Photo Credit: Google-Goggles
Article Via The Register
