User-guided object identification

Abstract

A user attempting to obtain information about an object can capture image information including a view of that object, and the image information can be used with a matching or identification process to provide information about that type of object to the user. In order to narrow the search space to a specific category, and thus improve the accuracy of the results and the speed at which results can be obtained, the user can be guided to capture image information with an appropriate orientation. An outline or other graphical guide can be displayed over image information captured by a computing device, in order to guide the user in capturing the object from an appropriate direction and with an appropriate scale for the type of matching and/or information used for the matching. Such an approach enables three-dimensional objects to be analyzed using conventional two-dimensional identification algorithms, among other such processes.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of identifying an object, comprising:
 receiving, from a user of a computing device, an indication of a category of object to be identified;   causing image information, captured by a camera of the computing device, to be displayed on a display screen of the computing device, the image information including a current view of the object, the current view capable of changing depending at least in part upon a position of the computing device;   causing an orientation guide for the category of object to be displayed with the image information on the display screen;   enabling the user to adjust the position of the computing device with respect to the object of interest until the current view of the object in the captured image information has a similar orientation and size to the orientation guide;   analyzing the captured image information to attempt to match at least a portion of the captured image information to information for a type of object in the category;   prompting the user for additional information for use in further analyzing the captured information when matching object information is unable to be determined with at least a minimum level of confidence; and   providing matching object information for display to the user when the matching object information is able to be determined with at least the minimum level of confidence.