TinEye
Encyclopedia
TinEye is a reverse image search
engine developed and offered by Idée, Inc., a company based in Toronto
, Canada, which was founded by Leila Boujnane and Paul Bloore in 1999. The use of the Web application
is free of charge for customers. According to the company, TinEye is the first web-based image search engine to use image identification technology. Currently, the technology is an Open beta release. Idée launched the service on May 6, 2008. Intended use of TinEye is different from traditional image search engines in that intended users are owners of copyrighted images who are looking to see if their imagery is being used online without authorization, as well as brand marketers who are tracking where their brands are showing up on the web.
A user uploads an image to the search engine (the upload size is limited to 1 MB) or provides a URL
for an image or for a page containing the image. The search engine will look up other usage of the image in the internet
including their time of appearance and including modified images based upon that image. Tineye does not recognise objects or persons in an image, it recognises the entire image, and some altered versions of that image. This includes smaller, larger, and cropped versions of the image. In addition, TinEye has shown itself capable of retrieving different images from its database of the same subject, such as famous landmarks. TinEye is capable of searching for images in JPEG
, GIF
, or PNG format. Currently, other formats that contain images online, such as Adobe Flash
, are not searchable.
Results generated from TinEye includes: the total number of matches in their database that the submitted image has generated, a preview image and URL to each match, as well as a function called Compare Images. Compare Images will bring up a window where the user can switch back and forth between the original image and the search result. TinEye can sort results by best match, worst match, biggest image, or smallest image.
User registration is optional, and offers storage of the user's previous queries. Other features include embeddable widget
s and bookmarklet
s. TinEye has also released their commercial API.
TinEye's ability to search the web for specific images (and modifications of those images) makes it a potential tool for the copyright holders of visual works to locate infringements on their copyright. It also creates a possible avenue for people who are looking to make use of imagery under orphan works to find the copyright holders of that imagery. Being that orphan works can be defined as "copyrighted works whose owners are difficult or impossible to identify and/or locate," then use of TinEye could potentially take away the orphan works status from online images that can be found in its database.
As of September 2011, TinEye claims to have indexed more than two billion images for comparisons. However, this is a very small proportion of the total number of images available on the World Wide Web.
The site's name may be a possible reference to Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, in which characters internally burn metals, which grant them special abilities. Characters who can only burn Tin, which enhances their senses, granting them improved vision, are called Tineyes.
Image search
Image meta search is a type of search engine specialised on finding pictures, images, animations etc. Like the text search, image search is an information retrieval system designed to help to find information on the Internet and it allows the user to look for images etc...
engine developed and offered by Idée, Inc., a company based in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada, which was founded by Leila Boujnane and Paul Bloore in 1999. The use of the Web application
Web application
A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
is free of charge for customers. According to the company, TinEye is the first web-based image search engine to use image identification technology. Currently, the technology is an Open beta release. Idée launched the service on May 6, 2008. Intended use of TinEye is different from traditional image search engines in that intended users are owners of copyrighted images who are looking to see if their imagery is being used online without authorization, as well as brand marketers who are tracking where their brands are showing up on the web.
A user uploads an image to the search engine (the upload size is limited to 1 MB) or provides a URL
Uniform Resource Locator
In computing, a uniform resource locator or universal resource locator is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource....
for an image or for a page containing the image. The search engine will look up other usage of the image in the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
including their time of appearance and including modified images based upon that image. Tineye does not recognise objects or persons in an image, it recognises the entire image, and some altered versions of that image. This includes smaller, larger, and cropped versions of the image. In addition, TinEye has shown itself capable of retrieving different images from its database of the same subject, such as famous landmarks. TinEye is capable of searching for images in JPEG
JPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
, GIF
GIF
The Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability....
, or PNG format. Currently, other formats that contain images online, such as Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
, are not searchable.
Results generated from TinEye includes: the total number of matches in their database that the submitted image has generated, a preview image and URL to each match, as well as a function called Compare Images. Compare Images will bring up a window where the user can switch back and forth between the original image and the search result. TinEye can sort results by best match, worst match, biggest image, or smallest image.
User registration is optional, and offers storage of the user's previous queries. Other features include embeddable widget
Widget engine
In computer software, a widget engine is a software service available to users for running and displaying applets on a graphical user interface, such as that of the desktop.The widget model in widget engines is attractive because of ease of development...
s and bookmarklet
Bookmarklet
A bookmarklet is Unobtrusive JavaScript stored as the URL of a bookmark in a web browser or as a hyperlink on a web page. The term is a portmanteau of the terms bookmark and applet, however, an applet is not to be confused with a bookmarklet just as JavaScript is not to be confused with Java...
s. TinEye has also released their commercial API.
TinEye's ability to search the web for specific images (and modifications of those images) makes it a potential tool for the copyright holders of visual works to locate infringements on their copyright. It also creates a possible avenue for people who are looking to make use of imagery under orphan works to find the copyright holders of that imagery. Being that orphan works can be defined as "copyrighted works whose owners are difficult or impossible to identify and/or locate," then use of TinEye could potentially take away the orphan works status from online images that can be found in its database.
As of September 2011, TinEye claims to have indexed more than two billion images for comparisons. However, this is a very small proportion of the total number of images available on the World Wide Web.
The site's name may be a possible reference to Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, in which characters internally burn metals, which grant them special abilities. Characters who can only burn Tin, which enhances their senses, granting them improved vision, are called Tineyes.
External links
- tineye.com
- http://www.ideeinc.com/products/tineye/
- http://tineye.com/faq#what
- TinEye article on ars technicaArs TechnicaArs Technica is a technology news and information website created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, science, technology policy, and video games. Ars Technica is known for its features, long articles that go...
- TinEye review on PlagiarismToday