Today I’ve been going around taking pictures of everything testing out Google’s newest service, Google Goggles, on my Android phone. For a preview of what Google Goggles is, Google has prepared a short video for explanation:
Google Explains Google Goggles
That’s right ladies and gentlemen… Now you can point your phone at an object and run searches on it. Right now the service is in its infancy so all the bugs aren’t worked out, but boy is it cool!. I’ve scanned several things and am getting a feel for what works and doesn’t work.
What Works Well With Google Goggles
- Books: Pick a book, any book. Scan it. Google Goggles will recognize it. For example, I scanned one of my textbooks, and Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. They worked very well with Google Goggles.
- Well known commercial products in their original packaging
- Large Landmarks
- Well known things with a large Internet footprint
Tips for using Google Goggles
- As with most image processing programs, make sure the picture is well lit, but not to the point of glare
- Take the picture with the camera facing the object as squarely as possible. An angle change of 15 degrees was the difference between the phone picking up on a logo and not
This picture returned no results
While this one did. What a difference an angle makes!
- While in image capture mode, pay attention to the screen. Helpful popups will appear as items Google identifies (by GPS and compass) objects in your view. An example of this happened as I was testing the app inside a dorm room out of all places. A popup came for University Housing. Clicking on this returned the phone number, the location and website of the Universities housing department.
- When scanning an object, think about its connotation. Is it a tree, or is it THE TREE. Google Goggles is much more likely to recognize THE TREE, especially if the picture you take shows why its THE TREE.
Screenshots
