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Google Goggles: What Do You See?

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“What’s that?”

If you’ve ever asked that question, you may be very interested to learn that you can search an image on Google. A picture is worth a thousand words and Google can use a picture to search for its subject.

You can search images on Google using a smartphone with Google Goggles, or using your computer with Google Search by Image.

Google Goggles is handy for many types of searches. If you’re traveling and want to find out more about a tourist attraction, use Google Goggles to identify the site and provide you with the history of it. If you’re out to dinner and want to know more about that bottle of wine you just enjoyed, use Google Goggles to scan the label. If you’re looking through old photos and can’t quite place a landmark from a past vacation, let Google jog your memory.

Google Goggles – Android and iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch

Google Goggles AppYou can search for images on Google with your smartphone camera. On Android phones you need to download Google Goggles, a free app in the Android Market. On the iPhone, iPad 2 and iPod Touch, you don’t have to download a separate app, the Google Goggles feature is in the Google search app.

Google Goggles can be used as a:

  • QR Code scanner
  • bar code scanner (for identification and price comparisons)
  • translator (take a picture of the text and Google will translate it for you)
  • Landmark identifier
  • Sudoku puzzle solver (but what fun is that?)

Google Goggles Sudoku

You can also use Google Goggles to identify art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has an agreement with Google for the identification of its pieces.

Here’s a video from Google showing how Google Goggles works on Android phones.

Here’s a video from Google showing how Google Goggles works on the iPhone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezc108DTaug&feature=player_embedded

Computer – Google Search by Image

You can also use your computer to identify images using Google. You can either search an image on a website or one of your own images. (Unfortunately, if you’re wondering where that beautiful locale is that you see on Pinterest, Google can’t help you as it doesn’t work with Pinterest.)

Go to images.google.com and click on the camera icon.

Google Goggles

To search a website, copy and paste the website address/URL into the search bar. To search an image on your computer, click on Upload an Image and then choose the file.

I searched this image of a castle I visited in Scotland:

Eilean Donan Castle

Google accurately identified the castle as the Eilean Donan castle.

Image search Google

You can search pictures of yourself or family members to see which similar images Google finds. You might be flattered if Google finds a similar image of a movie star. Don’t be offended if Google’s search results aren’t as lovely as you had hoped. Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Here’s a video from Google showing how Google Image Search works:

Word to the Wise

Searching Google using images can be incredibly useful but not 100% reliable. Just as with text searches, image searches may not produce the results you need. Don’t rely on Google’s image search for vital information such as whether a plant is poisonous.

Have you searched using Google Goggles or Google Image Search? Does Google think you look like a celebrity? Let us know in the Comments section below!

* Castle image by Dave Conner

 

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Comments

  1. Harleena Singh says

    Loved the into Carolyn!

    Though I don’t have any of the phones to use Google Googles (cute name!), but trying the images search through the link you gave of Google seems interesting. It would be fun to track down pictures of your near and dear ones, as well as the other photos you come across the web. But does this mean we need to open the picture and copy that link?

    I did try it out by pasting the link of my own blog post, and got so many other photos also that were nearly the same kinds- that’s nice! Guess you can have more of a variety and choose more of the kinds also.

    Thanks for sharing 🙂

    • Carolyn Nicander Mohr says

      Hi Harleena, Yes, this tool is very handy for people, whether they have a smartphone of not.

      You can upload a picture from your computer or use a link to a picture on the web. I used a picture of myself and it was fun to see which people Google thought I looked like. No resemblance to any movie stars, but then again, Google didn’t seem to care about gender or race either, lol!

      If you want to use an image for your blog post, Google can show you where else that image has been used on the web, which can be very handy.

      Have a great week, Harleena! 🙂

  2. Leora Wenger says

    Carolyn,

    Thank you so much! You just solved one of my problems. One of my clients has a group of images they want in a slideshow with captions. Unfortunately, we no longer had the source of the images. I just used the camera icon on Google Images as you suggested and found the source! And it was fast. I will have to download the app to my droid.

    Thank you,

    Leora

    • Carolyn Nicander Mohr says

      Hi Leora, Wow, that’s a great use of the image search feature on Google.

      I think you’ll find Google Goggles very handy on your Android phone, Leora. I don’t know why Google didn’t bundle it with the Google search app as they did on the iPhone, but it’s one of my favorite apps on my Android phone.

  3. Adrienne says

    Dang that’s so cool Carolyn.

    I’m not using my iPod for searching much right now but I love all of these things that you continue to share with us. I definitely can see where it could come in handy for translating menus or finding the artist of a painting. I have no doubt that it will only continue to improve and here is yet another thing I’m going to share with my relatives. They are so much more advanced than I am. lol…

    Thanks Carolyn and enjoy your day!

    • Carolyn Nicander Mohr says

      Hi Adrienne, Yes, you should find Google goggles very handy on your iPod Touch, Adrienne. The good news is that you don’t have to download another app, the search feature is already in your Google app. The bad news is that you need to be connected to rt he Internet for Google search to work. But I’m sure you are finding many places with Wi-Fi, Adrienne.

      Thanks so much for sharing this article, Adrienne!:-)

  4. Jack says

    I have a love searching for images on Google. I have used it to help plan parts and pieces of vacation but I haven’t used Google Goggles.

    I have a Droid so I think I’ll try downloading the App and try it out. Thank you for the tip.

    • Carolyn Nicander Mohr says

      Hello Jack, I think you will find Google Goggles very handy to have on your Droid. I wish it were part of the basic Google search app on Android phones, as it is on the iPhone, but that’s not the case. But they continue to improve Google Goggles so it’s definitely worth having.

      Thanks for sharing this, Jack!

  5. Janet Callaway says

    Carolyn, aloha. Thanks so much for this great info. What fun I will have searching.

    Now, more so than ever, I have to get an iPhone because I am positively smitten with Google goggles. What a great name.

    Off to find out if I look like a celebrity. Best wishes for a terrific week. Until later, aloha. Janet

    • Carolyn Nicander Mohr says

      Hi Janet, Yes, Google Goggles is exceptionally handy to have on a mobile phone. It will be a great way for you to show off your new iPhone to people who don’t have a smartphone. They will marvel at how your phone can use its camera to identify landmarks, art, etc.

      The celebrity who resembles you is very fortunate indeed, Janet! 🙂

  6. Jens P. Berget says

    This is news to me. I haven’t even noticed the icon 🙂

    I am sure that I’ll be using Google Goggles a lot, but when I tried to find similar pics of me, one that appeared was of Kim Jong-il, the dicatator of North Korea. He is kind of a celebrity, but I was a little surprised. He wasn’t what I expected 🙂

    • Carolyn Nicander Mohr says

      Hi Jens, It’s funny, I have never noticed any resemblance between you and Kim Jong-Il. Google thought I looked like an African-American woman and a man, among others. No celebrities for me! I was hoping for Charlize Theron, but no such luck. 🙁

  7. Hajra says

    I have tried google images but not the googles! Need to do that soon! I am surprised by the lengths and bounds by which Google is growing, however, I feel there are some hiccups here and there… but that’s okay Google still remains a favorite!

    I need to find what celebrity I look like! 🙂 Yikes…, so excited!

    • Carolyn Nicander Mohr says

      Hi Hajra, It’s fun and useful to see how Google identifies images. Sometimes Google is spot on, other times they are way off base.

      If you search your image and Google picks a gorgeous celebrity, they are spot on. If they pick someone who isn’t stunningly beautiful, Google is way off base. <= Tech Tip 🙂

  9. Ashvini says

    Hi Carolyn,
    Google Goggle… its fun to pronounce. It looks like a really interesting app. I have been to California too ( just for 2days). I was one month in Idaho(yeah I can hear you laughing 😉 . I liked California a lot. I think this type of tech was showcased in Ted . A guy could form a box with his fingers and a camera takes the snapshot of the things that can be seen from that enclosure, which could be then used to do all the things, Google does.
    I am not sure if Google has taken that tech and modified it. But it really is very useful if someone is walking past something interesting and he wants to know what it is .

    • Carolyn Nicander Mohr says

      Hi Ashvini, I would never laugh at your going to Idaho. But when you said before that it was the only state you had visited, I was surprised. Most people who visit the US for the first time check out California, Florida or New York. I have never been to Idaho but understand it’s a truly beautiful place to visit!

      Yes, Google Goggles is both fun to say and handy to use. The resources we have for reference are truly amazing. Google’s search tools become increasingly powerful. What’s even more amazing is that Google doesn’t charge for its search services.

  10. Gene Tilby says

    I love how Google is coming out with so many useful tools for everyone to use. I have pretty much stopped using Microsoft Office since the invention of Google docs, Picasa is extremely useful for many things, Gmail, Calender, Reader…it’s pretty much a one stop shop. The Goggles app is very cool on the Android, I have used it to identify locations that I visited in Portugal and while it didn’t find them all, it did a pretty good job. I must say, my life is actually easier because of these free tools that are offered to everyone. Thank you Google.

    • Carolyn Nicander Mohr says

      Hi Gene, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, it’s amazing the wealth of knowledge we have at our disposal for free, thanks to Google. They have developed so many amazing resources that it’s a challenge to keep up with them.

      You may enjoy reading Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson who explains quite well how Google makes money from free.

  11. Cat Alexandra says

    Hey Carolyn,

    I recently switched to an Android phone from BlackBerry. I have been perusing all the Google products that are offered in the Market and Google Goggles was one of those things that really got me playing with the phone a lot. lol

    I’m always impressed with the level of ingenuity and function that Google has brought to us time and again!

    What will they think of next!?

    Cat