Google Introduces ‘Google Image Swirl’

Google just recently announced on the one and only, the Official Google Blog, the introduction of a new experimental feature to Google Labs called “Google Image Swirl.” The new feature basically arranges similar images into groups, so you can find the image you are looking for in a cool, interactive, and exploratory way.

For example, when searching on Image Swirl for photos of the Boston skyline, which is one of my favorites, the results are displayed in 12 different groups including aerial views, ground views, night images, day images, close ups, distance images, the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, etc.

Once you click on one of the thumbnails of images you are looking for, a big cluster of images will be displayed. The big cluster contains smaller groups that you can keep clicking to [in a way] refine your search even further until you find the image you are looking for.

The service interface is somewhat similar to Google’s Wonder Wheel and utilizes technologies such as Similar Images and face recognition “to discern how images should be grouped together and build hierarchies out of these groups.”

Google Image Swirl is now available at image-swirl.googlelabs.com, just in case you’re willing to give it a try. It currently works with about 200,000 image queries only, although more are expected to be included in the future.