Comment Re:IBM DB2 (Score 1) 148
I was a DB2 beta tester in a previous life. The product that you're referring to is the DB2 Image Extender, and I was fortunate enough to be able to try it out as part of their beta program. Seemed to be really cool tech, but of course IBM was in OS/2 marketing mode...meaning that they couldn't find a customer for it, even if it promised to end world hunger, find a cure for cancer/AIDS, or clean up our polluted ecosystem.
I'm not sure about the current incarnation, but at the time there was a demo that included a small sketch-pad frame where you could draw what it was that you were looking for. I drew a vertical rectangle, pointed at the top, and requested a search. It came back with images of picket fences, the Washington monument, and several other similar images that were well-classified and fit with the image I provided. Drawing a half-circle with the diameter line at the bottom yielded sunrise/sunset scenes. All in all, it seemed to have a lot of potential.
There are other extenders, as well: the sound extenders (sounds like...), text extenders (extended fuzzy searching, above and beyond SQL 'like' queries), and video extenders, the last of which is an extension of the image extender: key frames are generated of the video stream, which are points of transition in the video content. From there, you do an image search for a particular key frame, resulting in the video segment(s) of interest.
I would've really liked to have seen this hit mainstream, but in typical IBM fashion, I don't think they perceived that much of a demand for it. You suppose the fact that no one knew it was there might have had something to do with that?
I'm not sure about the current incarnation, but at the time there was a demo that included a small sketch-pad frame where you could draw what it was that you were looking for. I drew a vertical rectangle, pointed at the top, and requested a search. It came back with images of picket fences, the Washington monument, and several other similar images that were well-classified and fit with the image I provided. Drawing a half-circle with the diameter line at the bottom yielded sunrise/sunset scenes. All in all, it seemed to have a lot of potential.
There are other extenders, as well: the sound extenders (sounds like...), text extenders (extended fuzzy searching, above and beyond SQL 'like' queries), and video extenders, the last of which is an extension of the image extender: key frames are generated of the video stream, which are points of transition in the video content. From there, you do an image search for a particular key frame, resulting in the video segment(s) of interest.
I would've really liked to have seen this hit mainstream, but in typical IBM fashion, I don't think they perceived that much of a demand for it. You suppose the fact that no one knew it was there might have had something to do with that?
