3 minute read
Searching for that perfect image for a client can be time consuming and frustrating. Pond5’s expansion of its AI based image search could eliminate that pain altogether.
Pond5 already has a powerful search engine based upon AI, which allows a user to drag and drop an existing image or video into the search box, whereupon Pond5 will attempt to find similar images or videos. It works surprisingly well, but Pond5 is now expanding it to include browser plugins and mobile apps.
The new service will allow users to search for images or video, for example in Google, and then use it to search for similar imagery within the Pond5 library. The browser plugin will be available for Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. The part that is really interesting, however, is when it comes to the mobile application. By using the camera on your mobile, you will be able to capture images and then automatically have Pond5 find similar results. Such functionality will be useful when users need placeholder imagery until they settle on a final version.
Such search systems are bound to become more commonplace. The saying that a picture says a thousand words is very true for such applications in that an image can give the search engine much more information to go on than a simple text description. In fact it would seem to be the best way given that all text descriptions are based upon whether the image contributor within the stock library entered similar keywords to the ones that you entered. As a result AI searches such as this are much more likely to give you an accurate result, as well as presenting you with options that might not have appeared when searching by way of keywords or phrases.
Personally I am waiting for someone to add a music based search to royalty free music libraries!
For more information visit the Pond5 website and watch the video below.
Pond5’s press release follows on the next page.
Pond5 Launches Visual Search for Video, Using Proprietary Neural Network to Power Artificial Intelligence-Based Content Discovery
New AI-driven features include browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari that let users search using any imagery on the internet, plus industry-first mobile Visual Search.
New York City, NY – Pond5, the world’s leading content marketplace for high-quality royalty-free video and other media, today announced the expansion of its patent-pending AI-based Visual Search platform to include groundbreaking browser-focused and mobile applications.
Allowing users to search by images instead of words, the artificial intelligence that drives Pond5 Visual Search gives customers the ability to show, rather than tell, what they’re looking for. Eliminating the difficult task of trying to put a visual concept into words, Visual Search delivers instant results for licensable media with a similar look to any file a customer chooses.
“Our team used state-of-the-art deep-learning techniques to build and train a neural network that allows users to search Pond5 using visual assets that inspire them,” explained Lawrence Lazare, Sr. Director, Product Management at Pond5. “By adding AI-based search into our industry-leading search experience, we also vastly reduced the amount of time it takes to find the perfect video clip, photo, or illustration.”
With the continued evolution of the internet into a primarily visual medium, video has continued to gain prominence at an exponential pace, making Pond5’s introduction of Visual Search for video a game-changing development. On the site, customers can use the feature, which recognizes patterns in imagery, either by scrolling over a search result in the Pond5 marketplace or uploading a file from their own computer.
Further utilizing the neural network-based technology, the first of the new Visual Search applications is a browser extension available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari that lets users search using any video or image they find on the web. With the extensions, customers can select any visual web result and use it to find similar video and image results on Pond5. The extensions even include the ability to erase parts of the selected image before searching, for more refined results.
Early adopters of Pond5 Visual Search have already found it to be extremely liberating. "Pond5’s new Visual Search features make it much easier — and faster — to pinpoint clips that are exactly what we need,” said Michele Kurtz, Vice President of Development at Half Yard Productions.
The second new application of the technology is an industry-first mobile web Visual Search. Giving users the ability to search for media using the camera on their mobile device or media uploaded from their camera roll, it’s an ideal solution for location scouters, traveling producers, and creators in search of ideas. By utilizing this on-the-go functionality, customers can capture imagery any time that inspiration strikes and immediately find similar results on Pond5.
“Visual Search is absolutely the future,” said Pond5 CEO Jason Teichman. “It’s a new yet familiar way to find exactly what you’re envisioning for your project. And inspiration can strike at any time, so it’s important that you’re not limited to a single method of searching. By expanding on our custom neural-network engine, Pond5 can now always give you a way to find what you’re looking for, regardless of whether you’re on the site, browsing the web, or walking down the street. It’s just the latest example of our commitment to making content discovery as easy and intuitive as possible, and to constantly innovating on behalf of both our artists and our customers.”
To learn more about Pond5 Visual Search and how each of the new features works, as well as to download the browser extensions, visit pond5.com/visual-search.
Meet with Pond5 at NAB
Professionals attending the NAB Show can book a private meeting and demonstration with the Pond5 sales team at the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas. To request a meeting, please contact NAB2018@pond5.com.
Tags: Production
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