Retrievr

Through a rough sketch, Retrievr allows users to explore and search for images on [|Flickr]. It finds images according to the shape and colour that viewers draw in the sketch pad. The site is based on research conducted by Chuck Jacobs, Adam finkelstein and David Salesin from the University of Washington - Fast Multiresolution Image Querying; and imgSeek, which is an image management aplication that uses the same method.


 * Significant Insight:**
 * Users are provided with a small sketch pad and a colour swatch, along with four different size brushes to create sketches of images that's on the user's mind
 * According to the shape users draw in the sketch pad, retrievr automatically searches for images on Flickr that has the pronounced shape
 * The colour that's used in the sketch pad is another element that affects the search result
 * A new search is performed automatically every time there is a change to the composition, compositions that are less like the sketch are eliminated to form a more accurate search
 * The feature of the site can be very useful at times when people cannot remember any relevant information about a piece of artwork, and only has a vague memory of what the image looks like.
 * One drawback of this exploration site is that users cannot control when they want to search or stop search for images when they are editing the sketch.