i202 Fall 2010 School of Information, UC Berkeley

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/business/media/16adco.html?_r=1&ref=te...

Other than a traditional search box for information retrieval, it is not a new idea to employ much richer user interfaces such as voice search, or visual search.

A year ago, Google introduced a smartphone application that lets users take photos of objects and get search results in return. Now they start testing water by working with five national brands to see how consumers interact with a brand.

Buick, for example, by participating in this experiment is quite interested in how people perceive their brand. Disney, on the other hand, would like to utilize this tool to lead users to websites where they can buy movie tickets. People who scan the labels on selected bottles of alcoholic beverages from Diageo will be taken to a mobile site where they can find things like cocktail recipes and wine reviews.