Image recognition is the process by which a picture is analyzed by a computer program to recognize certain elements, be it a face, writings or simply patterns in the image. Image recognition is used a lot in robotics to help robots simulate an eye from a camera. So what does this have to do with cell phones?
Evolution Robotics, a company from Pasadena who develops robotics technology and visual recognition systems for loss prevention in grocery stores, announced today the deployment of a visual pattern recognition technology in cell phones.
This technology powers a service allowing the user to take a picture of an item with their cell phone and automatically get information on the product itself and where to purchase it.
This is but one possible application of image recognition in mobile phones. For example, you could take a picture of a sentence written on a panel in a foreign language and have it translated automatically by the image recognition software. The Feng Shui phone will probably use this kind of technology to do its processing. The possibilities are endless and this technology will add a lot of value to camera phones.