Terminator references to computer vision tend to be overblown as most augmented reality apps don’t really analyze what’s literally in front of them – except for Google Goggles. How often do you remember to use Google’s crazy visual search app – and how often does it deliver you results? Today Google announced a new feature that could be called Perma-Goggles: users of Android phones can now opt in to have all their photos automatically uploaded to Google servers, checked for search results in Goggles and then get a notification when the service finds something!
It’s a lot like Google Plus’s Instant Upload for Android and I think it’s really smart. It does require that you feel comfortable letting the Almighty Goog see all that you see – but that will likely be a feature of the forthcoming GoogImplant 2015 anyway.
The new implementation of Goggles works in the background and sounds much less disruptive of the user experience than the standalone Goggles app today. I’d sure love to see something like this enabled on the iPhone.
It’s another example of Google’s long-term vision of giving you the search results you want – before you even know you want them or think to ask. Imagine what it would be like if Google Voice Search was enabled as a background process for all your voice calls! Silent push notifications could be sent whenever someone said something that brought up interesting search results. I’d love to see Google Voice Search of my Greplin archives, performed live on top of my voice calls. That would freak some people out, but it would be opt-in! I don’t think that’s unrealistic at all as a vision of the near-term future.
