Riya (formerly Ojos) is a new photo sharing offering that learns what people in photos look like. It appear this is done through automated facial recognition and tagging software. With time more people in photos are recognized and are indexed for the photo search. According to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch:
“Riya leverages potent facial and text recognition technology with an intelligent interface to help people make sense of the thousands of untitled and untagged photos that are building up on their hard drives (and on the web).”
How well will this software perform? Could it tell the difference between twins? According to a Wired News article by Kathleen Craig:
“… the software has proven sensitive enough to tell the difference between twins and recognize members of the same family. It can even read street signs for clues about a picture's location.”
What an amazing concept Riya has recently launched in not beta but alpha. However, I do recall around the time of the big technology bubble burst almost four years ago, a consultant peer showed me a project a friend of hers had launched. The name of the company escapes me at this time but I believe it was a Chicago based outfit and offered a similar face recognition online photo sharing website. It is interesting to see the idea surface again when technology innovation one again seems to be on the up and up. I have requested an alpha account and awaiting a reply. I just wonder, will Riya revolutionize photo-sharing and management?
To hear other blogosphere buzz about Riya the "smart" photo tagging offering visit these posts on HorsePigCow, Software and Tools, SiliconBeat, One More Idea, My Dog II and Thrashing Stinks.