Google Swirl (in Labs)

Google today launched an experimental feature in Labs called Google Image Swirl, which builds on new computer vision research to cluster similar images into representative groups in a fun, exploratory interface.

Once you find the group of images you’re interested in, you can click on the thumbnail and a cluster of images will “swirl” into view. You click on images and it will create its own sub-group and similarly you can create a whole cluster of images (as shown in screen shot below for Taj Mahal).

For example check the screen shot below when we searched “Taj Mahal” in Google Image Swirl:

Search Result of "Taj Mahal"

You can then further explore additional sub-groups within any cluster.

Cluster of image result in Google Swirl

Image Swirl expands on technologies developed for Similar Images and Picasa Face Recognition to discern how images should be grouped together and build hierarchies out of these groups. Each thumbnail on the initial results page represents an algorithmically-determined representative group of images with similar appearance and meaning. These aren’t just the most relevant images — they are the most relevant groups of images.

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