Polar Rose, a Swedish start-up, has unveiled a new technology that will allow users to search the Internet for images using facial recognition and 3D modeling.
The company said this new search plug-in, called Polar Rose, offers users an alternative approach to Google's popular image search function, and combines facial recognition and 3D imaging software, along with user-input, to provide a unique method for Web-based image searches.
It is learnt that the technology will basically create 3D models of two-dimensional photographs, and then search for similar photographs on the Web and on public photo sites like Flickr. The 3D model helps the computer to disregard photo differences having to do with lighting, camera angles, and the position of the subject's face in two or more pictures. A three-quarter shot can be produced from even a direct headshot.
Using the Polar Rose technology, users will be able to annotate photos with descriptive details, harnessing the collective intelligence of the Web to improve what can be done with computational searching alone on sites like Yahoo! and Google. Besides, users will be able to further improve the service's search function by entering metadata such as names to the results.
According to the company, the technology will be able to analyze images and recognize facial features while compensating for differences in lighting, facial expressions, and pose. Users will also be utilizing the technology to find people that match specific features of an image they are looking at.
Polar Rose will help consumers to label any photo, and in turn to search for related photos of the same or similar-looking people. In a simpler manner, Polar Rose promises to help a computer user sort through and group personal photos face by face. More broadly, it can search out similar-looking photos across the Web.
On this occasion, Jan Erik Solem, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Polar Rose, said, "You can label photos by name, or find them by their faceprint signature. Polar Rose will only search through and catalog publicly available photographs on the Web, not private databases. It also has ruled out selling its technology for use in surveillance or by intelligence agencies. We just want to build a fun, open, and transparent service."
Polar Rose will be available as a free Web browser plug-in for users, and as a royalty-free API (Application Programming Interface) for partner integration. A beta of Polar Rose will be available for public use, beginning in February next year. And later next year, a mobile search and completed index of online photos will be released.
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