Face-recognition technology coming to the internet

09 October 2006

Polar Rose is a new search engine now being tested that will allow you to find anyone in any photo on any site. Type in the name of a person you know, and find pictures of that person all over the web, on sites like MySpace or blog pages using face-recognition technology.

The Polar Rose search engine works by providing users with a special web browser plug-in that anyone can use with a web page that contains a picture. The process begins with the Polar Rose software identifying the parts of the picture that are actually images of people. For example, in a backyard barbeque snapshot, you might find a variety of elements in the picture, like grills, decks, chairs, and different people standing around. The software picks out the faces and puts a small "rose" icon next to each one (see example picture here).

The Polar Rose software then compares each face to its central database of faces. If a person's face is not in the database, the application will ask if you know that person. If you do, you can enter that name in the application window, and submit it to the database.

If the Polar Rose database knows the face, or if it has any possible matches, the Polar Rose plug-in will display it on the picture, and ask for your agreement or other input.

[link to www.livescience.com]

Polar Rose Site: [link to www.polarrose.com]