Generally search engines follow the same format of query and list results. Maybe it is time to change this. Time to move on to something hands on, interactive. Lately I’ve been noticing search engines following different rule sets. Check out this article via MSNBC.Com which reports on a company developing a search engine which bases its query on a drawing. Meant to be a business solution for engineering and design companies, the user draws their query on a tablet or scans it into the field. The search engine finds all those results which match the structure and shape. This could make product development faster and more efficient, thereby reducing costs and prices.
Another interesting search engine I came upon is Quintera, a search engine based on a cloud of tags. You can navigate search results via the tag cloud. It seems to be similar to the digg, technorati, etc tag systems. Development and formation of Quintera Inc. finished in 2005; the two year old company bases their searches on context and word association. A great notion to explore. In fact, I have my own take on these two ideas.
A search engine which is based in a 3d environment. The same query and results functions but with the results set in a different area. My vision is that a results cloud will appear which can be navigated based on a full 360 degrees in every direction. A sort of "space" in which we travel through results in a cloud. That way associations can be made in a variety of directions. This would create more results for a query but with an easier method to sort through them. I search, "leather", and I come up with results displayed in a 3 dimensional cloud environment. Where I can navigate and "fly" around the cloud between results and moving in different directions toward the results I want. The results would be on the first level geared to broader topics and then as we navigate and click on key words or tags, we can siphon out that which we don’t need.The power of tags is already being exploited, I just think that they would do better within an environment in which we can roam around in limitless directions. Limitless directions because it always seems the case that we don’t find exactly what we are searching for. Instead of the search engine predicting what we it assumes we want, we search for what we want via the engine.
I think it is a cool concept. Maybe you could give me some feedback as to the downfalls or irrelevance of such an application.
Whoo, that is spiffy.
The concept of (Using the engine to allow the user to actively search out the results, rather than predict what the user wants and give them a list by list).
I think of it like a grocery store.
Say you want raspberry jelly, save-a-lot brand, in a 12 oz jar.
Where a traditional search engine, like google right now, lets you into the grocery store [the store is their engine] and you have to go aisle by aisle [or page by page] to find what you want.
Or in this other concept that you’re proposing , the aisle where jellies are “located in this aisle”, and the user sees on the shelves, the different types, and its narrowed down by saying, ok, I want this kind].
(and the peanut butter, which is often searched with jelly, is not too far nearby, in the store and in the results, but if you’re not interested in a jelly peanut butter hybrid [and they might be, even if the user didn't type into the search engine, because they may have wanted that jelly because they discovered the jelly type thanks to a recipe using the PB and J.]
[as i type this out, I realize the analogy is not perfect, so if you are confused or don't find it to be an analogy, i see].
That concept gives more control to the user (and makes them do more work, in a sense).
Also, there’s a music site similar to quintera,
[oh wow, just checked the site for the first time in a while, they added movies to it]
http://www.liveplasma.com/
liveplasma has a great concept, but they haven’t figured out how to represent a 3-d world on the computer screen yet.
*gets the crazy idea in head of:
- using a joystick/remote, akin to wii, to move around in the search engine,
[another idea, make something like a tv remote, something that you can easily grasp in your hand and act as a mouse.]
- using a circular monitor [donut-shaped] [mmm...donuts *drools* homer] that you would poke your head into and the search results would
display on the screen, and you touch the screen area[spectrum], where the different spectrum[i.e. For a search on "windows" one part of the results displayed is for glass windows in a house; another part of the spectrum for computers; etc]
[gamers would buy the circular, donut monitors as well]
[sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel]
[I'm on call to move to NYC this summer].
I do like your analogy of a “grocery store-like search engine”. It is VERY apt. Although, having consumers acquire, nay I say “purchase”, extra equipment in order to run the search engine would probably be a bad idea. No one wants to buy extra stuff just to make something they already do a bit more efficient [unless of course the jump in efficiency would mean greater profits, justifying the initial equipment investment]. I do not necessarily want to segregate and split the market into business users and personal users. So, maybe sticking to 3D navigation via mouse and keyboard would be best. The actual 3Dimensional environment would probably be akin to most video games which use their graphics engines to construct an interactive 3Dimensional area.
Good comment S! Much appreciated!