new search engines that can mine catalogs of three-dimensional objects, like airplane parts or architectural features.
All the users have to do is sketch what they're thinking of, and the search engines can produce comparable objects.
Mainstream search engines, meanwhile, are still trying to master 2-D images. For example, Google Inc.'s picture search program delivers pretty good results but can't actually examine the images it serves up. It mines the text surrounding the photos, and hopes for success.
However, 3-D search engines have begun to emerge as improvements in computing power and interactive modeling software have deepened the pool of designs available to query -- not only in industrial settings but also in highly detailed online virtual worlds. Boeing Co. engineers invented their own 3-D search engine a few years ago as part of an effort to reuse more parts
So how can computer programs look for objects? The breakthrough is the voxel.
Digital camera owners are familiar with pixels -- the basic element of a digital image. Each pixel is a tiny grain of color.
Similarly, a voxel is the basic element of a three-dimensional object that is represented in a computer. Each voxel represents the volume of the object at any given point."
posted by Jen @ 5:55 AM
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