Yahoo! purchases image recognition and machine learning company LookFlow
posted Wednesday, October 23, 2013 at 3:13 PM EDT
It was just August when Yahoo! announced that it had purchased image recognition company IQ Engines to improve Flickr search. Now, a mere two months later, a very similar sounding company has been bought out by the tech giant. This time it's LookFlow, a company variously described as "an enhanced image recognition company" which works with "artificial intelligence, information visualization, and interface design."
On an announcement on its homepage, LookFlow said:
We built LookFlow as an entirely new way to explore images you love — combining delightful user experiences with the latest advances in machine learning.
Flickr is the largest collection of images we love. They share our passion for creating phenomenal experiences & technology to help you discover those images.
Simultaneously, the group is looking to hire more people in order to build a deep learning group at Yahoo!.
There's not a lot of information about what exactly LookFlow does, but a Yahoo! spokesperson told TNW “We have acquired LookFlow, an enhanced image recognition company.”
With both this purchase, and the recent picking up of IQ Engines, it looks like Yahoo! is pushing towards improving search and image recognition on Flickr in a major way. What that actually means for users of the service, and if it'll lead to any changes on the front end remains to be seen.
(via TNW, TechCrunch)