Riya: A Step Forward In Searching Photos

Because of my programming background, it's very rare that I have a "gee whiz" moment when I'm shown new technology. Seeing something new, my mind always races ahead, trying to figure out how they did that. And I usually arrive at an answer in short order.

But I just saw something today that is VERY impressive. I was listening to a Steve Gillmor podcast and heard an extensive discussion about a new photo sharing & search site called Riya. The CEO, Munjal Shah, and his crew have created something very revolutionary.

Go to the site and search for: museum

Several photos will come up. Click on one of them. You'll then be presented with the photos in a long vertical strip. Scroll down and you'll see that most of them have several interesting things happening. Specifically, the software in Riya has performed human face recognition and optical character recognition wherever it can. It's still far from perfect but you will get a good idea of where computer technology is going to take us in the future!