System and method for enabling image recognition and searching of images

Abstract

Embodiments programmatically analyze each of a plurality of images in order to determine one or more visual characteristics about an item shown in each of the plurality of images. Data is stored corresponding to the one or more visual characteristics. An interface in is provided for which a user is able to specify one or more search criteria. In response to receiving the one or more search criteria, a search operation is performed to identify one or more items that have a visual characteristic that satisfies at least some of the one or more search criteria.

1 . A method for enabling searching of visual characteristics in images, the method comprising:
 programmatically analyzing each of a plurality of images in order to determine one or more visual characteristics about an item shown in each of the plurality of images;   storing data corresponding to the one or more visual characteristics;   providing an interface in which a user is able to specify one or more search criteria; and   in response to receiving the one or more search criteria, performing a search operation to identify one or more items that have a visual characteristic that satisfies at least some of the one or more search criteria.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying a search result to the user that includes the identified one or more items. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing an interface in which a user is able to specify one or more search criteria includes enabling the user to provide a quantitative input as a search criterion. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein enabling the user to provide a quantitative input includes enabling the user to provide the quantitative input that specifies a color of a desired item. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein enabling the user to provide a quantitative input includes enabling the user to provide the quantitative input that specifies a color of a portion of an item. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein providing an interface in which a user is able to specify one or more search criteria includes enabling the user to specify search criteria that includes a combination of the specified image and one or more features that are selected from a group of features consisting of a color, a shape and a pattern. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein enabling the user to specify search criteria that includes a combination of the specified image and one or more features includes enabling the user to quantitatively specify one or more features from the group to be compared against a presence of the specified one or more features in the specified image. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein providing an interface in which a user is able to specify one or more search criteria includes enabling the user to specify an image from a previous search result as a search criterion. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein enabling the interface in which a user is able to specify one or more search criteria includes enabling the user to specify a search criterion for any one of a plurality of visual characteristics. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein enabling the interface in which a user is able to specify one or more search criteria includes enabling a user to specify a color of the item. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein enabling the interface in which a user is able to specify one or more search criteria includes enabling a user to specify a shape, a pattern, or a feature of the item. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing the information that is determined from programmatically analyzing each of the plurality of images as a quantitative value. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the quantitative value corresponds to one or more signatures that are descriptive or identifying of an individual item. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising indexing the one or more signatures for each of the plurality of images. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein storing data corresponding to the one or more visual characteristics includes storing text terms that are descriptive of the one or more visual characteristics, the text terms being determined from programmatically analyzing the individual images. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein programmatically analyzing each of the plurality of images in order to determine information about that item includes identifying a quantitative value from analyzing individual images in the plurality of images, and converting the quantitative value into one or more text terms that are descriptive of a global or local feature of the individual images. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising procuring at least some of the plurality of images by crawling one or more network sites. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein performing a search operation to identify one or more items includes identifying a plurality of items that have the visual characteristic that satisfies a threshold defined by the one or more search criteria, and wherein the method further comprises presenting at least some of the plurality of items that satisfy the threshold to the user, wherein presenting the at least some of the plurality of items includes presenting one or more of the plurality of items in prominence based at least in part on a determination that the one or more of the plurality of items better satisfy the threshold than other items of the plurality of items. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein providing an interface includes enabling the user to specify an image of an item as the search criteria, and wherein presenting the one or more of the plurality of items in prominence is based on the determination that the one or more of the plurality of items more resemble an appearance of the specific image of the search criteria. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the one or more search criteria corresponds to a signature that represents one or more features of the image of the item specified by the user as the search criteria, and wherein determining that the one or more of the plurality of items most resemble an appearance of the image includes comparing the one or more signatures of the item specified by the search criteria with the stored data corresponding to the one or more visual characteristics.