Usable facial-recognition software belongs in the realm of science fiction, right? Or perhaps it exists, but only in the some of the more technologically advanced branches of the government. Not so. The photo-sharing site Riya already uses some of that technology, and is due to incorporate more this fall.
The Riya site was launched in March, and over 7 million images have already been uploaded to it. After the upload is complete, the site uses “face recognition, text recognition, and more to look inside the photograph so you can find the photo you want.”
Behind this process is the Riya Team, which describes itself as “a group of determined face recognition and text recognition researchers and engineers who believe it is time for a new type of photo search that uses technology to look inside and automatically tag photos.” This technology could have several applications.
The first possibility relates directly to the somewhat social nature of the site-after posting pictures of themselves, friends, and family, users could search for other images of the same people. “We want to help you recover every moment, every place you’ve been and all of the people you’ve met along the way,” reads one Riya page.
Malindi Davies, an equity analyst for the Susquehanna Financial Group, foresees marketing and advertising potential for the technology, as well. “If you have a more efficient way to tag or recognize objects in photographs that’s less human-capital intensive, that’s a great technology for stock-image companies like Getty Images, Jupiterimages, or Corbis Photos.”
Riya isn’t yet aspiring to that, or at least not publicly. But the company does have an ambitious goal in mind, saying, “We will be successful when we can find every digital photo in the world.”
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Doug is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest eBusiness news.
