Hitachi America said that their similar image search engine GazoPa application will begin open beta testing and will be available to the public at large.
Hitachi said that all features are available for test users without log in, to obtain a range of feedback that will allow the company to evaluate the broad scale market potential.
According to Hitachi, GazoPa image search engine uses characteristics such as a color or a shape extracted from the image itself. In addition to the keyword search capabilities, GazoPa enables the use of users’ own photos, drawings, and images found on the web, as search keys to locate similar images.
Hitachi has been enhancing GazoPa since its beta launch on September, 2008. It has released Facebook application ‘GazoPa book’ and ‘GazoPa Drawing’ and GazoPa for iPhone application.
According to the Hitachi, other new features included in the evaluation during open beta testing are filtering latest images and reusable images. GazoPa allows users to filter images that are for commercial and remix use.
Hitachi said that it also plans to release additional features that make image search more efficient and exciting in the future.
