Google Multisearch: Google wants to make it easier to search for things that are difficult to describe with just a few words or an image.
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On Thursday, Google (GOOG) introduced a new search option that lets you combine text and images in a single query. With that feature, you could search for a shirt similar to the one you saw in a photo but type in “polka dots,” or take a photo of your couch and type in “chair” to find similar pieces of furniture.
The feature, which the company calls “Multisearch” and previewed in September, is now available to U.S. users in the Google Lens section of the Google mobile app. Liz Reid, vice president of Google Search, told CNN Business that the feature is considered experimental. It is expected to be used initially for shopping-related searches, although it is not limited to such queries.
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Multisearch marks Google's latest attempt to make search more flexible.
To find multisearch in the Google mobile app, you need to tap a camera icon on the right side of the search bar, which brings up Google Lens. You can take or upload a photo, then tap a small bar that contains a plus sign and the phrase “add to your search.” This lets you type in words to better explain what you want.
The feature works by using artificial intelligence in a couple of ways. Computer vision analyzes what's in the image, while natural language processing determines the meaning of the words you type. These results are then combined to train an overall system.
When Google introduced this type of search in September, the company explained that it would use a powerful machine-learning called MUM (which stands for “multitask unified model”) that it had unveiled last May. Reid said in an interview last week that this won’t happen at first, but that it may use MUM in the coming months, which she said she believes will help improve search quality.
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Today's announcement comes a week after Google announced it was introducing improvements to its artificial intelligence model to make Google Search a safer experience and better at handling sensitive queries, including those involving topics like suicide, sexual assault, substance abuse and domestic violence.
Source of information: edition.cnn.com
