From text search on search engines to textual content on web pages, to search engine optimized code on webpages, text is the recurring character in the plot, supported by able imagery. But all that is set to change.
We are slowly moving to the paradigm of a ‘World Wide Visual Web’, an online world where images are both transaction, and currency. From fashion to industrial design, content management to traffic management, e-commerce to security, business organizations and technology providers are exploiting the power of Image Recognition to engage with customers better, and enhance the brand experience.
Image Recognition is not just about identifying objects, logos, brands, buildings and places as efficiently as a human would. The convergence of Object Recognition, Facial Recognition, Pattern Recognition, Optical Character Recognition, Visual Search, and Augmented Reality is creating interesting possibilities to interpret information better, by adding a layer of real-time and context-sensitive visual data.
With companies providing Image Recognition APIs that can be embedded in any smartphone application, the technology is entering the phase of mass adoption. With enormous scope for customization and personalization, industry giants like Google, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon and Honeywell are betting high stakes on this future driver of business.
Considering that humans evolved with visual capabilities (text coming in only much, much later), Image Recognition seems to be a no-brainer for the future, while today it could be a differentiator for the first-movers. Of course, humans also evolved with aural capability too, but that is a story for another day, not far behind.
