On 9/13/07, Desilets, Alain <Alain.Desilets(a)nrc-cnrc.gc.ca> wrote:
I think this is a really good use of cross-lingual
retrieval technology, because images are language neutral. If the system returns an image
of a tree found on an arabic site, I can still understand the image and tell that it's
a tree. In contrast, if I search for *text* about trees and the system returns an arabic
page on trees, I can't make use of it unless I can at least read arabic.
One comment about the user interface of your prototype. It's too focused on the query
words, and not enough on the images. Right now, to find images, I have to:
A) Type a query (e.g. "tree")
B) Tell the system my query is in English
C) Select the meaning of the word I mean (e.g. "a large wooden plant").
D) Select the language I want to search in (e.g. arabic)
Only after I have done these things do I get to finally see images.
I would suggest the following changes:
Have the query language set to English by default (I'm French, so I'm allowed to
say that ;-), and have a pick list where people can change that (and store that preference
in a cookie).
Skip C) and D) altogether, and search for images that match all meanings and all
translations in all languages. Maybe that doesn't work well and produces too many
false matches?
Leave the "meaning" step (optional), but searching for all languages
at once makes a lot of sense. At least Google can handle it :-)
Magnus