Google Image Recognition – well sort of …

Google Labs, the company’s experimental playground where users can test out new features, has been quiet lately with the exception of Gmail Labs. This is unusual, especially for a company that prides itself on innovation and its famous 20 percent rule. But it seems that Google’s been hard at work behind the scenes. Today, they announced a relaunched Google Labs, moving it to a new domain and rebuilding it on Google App engine. In addition to the relaunch, Google has released two new Google Labs features: Similar Images and Google News Timeline. Here’s a quick overview of the new features, as well as the relaunched Google Labs.

The first new project that Google is touting is Similar Images, which uses image recognition technology to help you filter and organize image search results. Say you’re trying to find pictures of a specific person, but many people share his or her name. How do you filter the results?

Similar Images fixes this problem. Here’s how it works: by clicking the link under any picture, it will pull up only pictures with similar characteristics and traits. In Google’s example, they show how it can differentiate between jaguars (the animal) and jaguars (the car). In the example I’ve added below, I’ve shown how it can even focus on just action shots of soccer/football star David Beckham.

If you can’t think of the exact words to search for, this feature could be a boon. Its accuracy is impressive, although like any technology, it is not perfect.