Google Image Swirl Offers Fun Ways to Explore Images

After graduating the feature “Find Similar Images” in Google Labs, here’s a new experiment on finding and exploring images being offered by Google – Image Swirls. The idea behind Google Swirl is similar to the “Wonder Wheel” options that was recently introduced in Google Search Panel.

Google Image Swirls builds on a new computer vision research which groups similar images together and present them in a fun way, which in this case is in “swirling” formation. Each images in the group or cluster are clickable links which will bring you to the webpage where that link is contained.

Google Image Swirl uses the same technology as Similar Images and Picasa Face Recognition to analyze images and group similar images together as well as in hierarchies. Each of these images were also analyzed as the best representative images in a particular group or cluster.

The feature is pretty cool, if I may say so. Although a bit “unconventional”, it is however very appropriate for Image Search since it gives a new way of looking at Image Search results.

This feature currently works for around 200,000 pre-determined queries. If you want to take it for a spin, just go to http://image-swirl.googlelabs.com and check out the search examples given.

Leapfish: Enhanced Social Media and Real-Time Search Experience

We have seen a few social as well as real-time search engines previously, and this whole week is all about a new-comer: Leapfish.

In fact , there’s so much buzz around it that I found it necessary to review the tool here and discuss it with our SEJ community.

Leapfish is a new social and real-time search engine. In their own words:

There is more content, more variety and more services that are all very valuable to us. LeapFish searches the traditional, multimedia and social web and providers results from all over the Internet from major authorities in their respective spaces. Here are some of the database and parts of the web we search; Google, Yahoo, Bing, YouTube, Twitter, Image Authorities, Blog Authorities, Wikipedia, Yelp, Digg, CyberHomes, Yahoo Answers, Amazon and many others from a growing list of providers.

First, let’s see how it works for a newcomer:
Social, Real-Time and Multimedia Search

-Go ahead and search something; you will be first taken to “Web results” containing:
-Google news results;
-Google / Yahoo / Bing general search results;
-Youtube results;
-Twitter search results;
-Blog search results;
-Image search results (via Google or Flickr);
-Relevant Digg submissions;
-wikiHow results;
-Yahoo Answers search results;

-Related products (from Amazon or eBay);-Relevant web documents (ia Scribd).

“Liking”

LeapFish offers users to “Like” search results that they find. ‘Liking‘ inserts chosen results into the “User Recommended Results” that then appear in LeapFish Search results for that particular search term.

You can find this function as a “Like” button that appears as you hover over links and results.

“Social Sharing”

Leapfish has a really advanced social sharing feature which appears once you hover any search result. Click it an you’ll be able to share the link via Twitter, Facebook, Mixx, Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Delicious, etc.

Google Puts a Lock on SafeSearch Feature

Parents who continues to worry that their kids might still encounter sexually explicit web sites even when they have Google’s SafeSearch feature on can now rest easy. Google has just made SafeSearch safer with the introduction of a locking feature.

The lock feature brings SafeSearch to the stricktest level of filtering that Google can possibly provide to users, says a post from the Official Google Blog. To activate this feature, just visit the “search settings” and enter your password to turn the feature on. 
Once activated, you’ll know that SafeSearch is locked if you see some colored balls on top of the page. Once this colored balls disappear, you’d know that you should turn on the lock again.