Google brings its Lens AI recognition service into image searches
Google LLC wants to make image search results more useful through a newly launched integration with Lens, its artificial intelligence-powered image recognition service.
The company has been steadily adding new ways for consumers to interact with Lens since the service’s release in October 2017. Google initially offered the technology as an exclusive feature for its Pixel 2 phone, then extended support to Android devices from other manufacturers and in March rolled it out to Google Photos. That last version was the first to become accessible from iOS handsets as well.
Google is taking a slow and steady approach with this latest expansion. In the blog post today announcing the Google Images integration, product manager Assaf Broitman wrote that the embedded Lens implementation will initially focus mainly on identifying physical goods such as furniture.
The feature could make visual searches a handy tool for online shoppers. Users browsing Google Images for interior design ideas, as an example, can now select a certain piece of furniture to have Lens bring up information on where to buy it.
“All you need to do is press the Lens button, then either tap on a dot on the couch, or draw around it, and Google Images will show you related information and images,” Broitman wrote. “From there, you can learn more about it, or find places where you might be able to buy a similar couch.”
Lens is initially launching in the U.S. for the mobile web version of Google Images, where it’s accessible via a new button that shows up beneath photos. The company plans over time to expand the image recognition capability to more types of objects ranging from landmarks to plants. Google also aims to bring the embedded version of Lens to additional countries and add support for other languages besides English.
The company’s ongoing efforts to expand the reach of Lens could eventually lead it it to make the service available on desktops, too. Such a move would allow Google Images to compete more directly with Pinterest Inc., which provides a similar feature for finding products shown in photos.
Photo: Unsplash
Since you’re here …
… We’d like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we don’t have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary on SiliconANGLE — along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams at theCUBE — take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.
If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here, please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors, tweet your support, and keep coming back to SiliconANGLE.