Translated from the French article Recherche visuelle : enquête sur quelques systèmes de visualisation. by Gaby David

Studying different web browsers and their different display systems, their tagging logic, their searching advantages and disadvantages leads one to consider other search engines, with other visualization systems, different than the mainstream Google platform. New ways of combining tags are currently a hot issue.

I am just trying to make a list, as broad as possible, enumerating different browsers that will help us in our daily searches.

Let’s start for example with Quintura: declared the best search engine of the year 2007 (by altsearchengines). Quintura bases its search methodology in relationships. It is a very good example of cluster tagging. A cloud of words associates tags, in order to enhance and facilitate our navigation towards other topics of interest, other themes related to the object we are searching for.

For example, if we seek the term “cellphone images”, tags such as “stock”, “users”, and many others will appear. If we set the mouse on one of those related terms, the search result changes and becomes compatible with both terms. The dynamism of our research appears in real time, just on our screens, and each mouse movement will lead to a different combination.  Each tag leads us to other tags, as a tree, quickly, like an association game; every cloud turns into another cloud tag and so forth.

There are four tabs: Web, images, video and Amazon. This engine allows for a rapid transition from one mode to another. Its use is user friendly, very pleasant, we can bookmark, record or share and send the research we do with our contacts. Sometimes in the left side of each tag there is a small icon, indicating where the link comes from, or where it leads to (CNN, Yahoo, blog, etc.). In the right side there is a cross. If you click on these crosses, that tag will not be included in the new research, shortening the following “trees”. Quintura is a visual search engine. It extracts keywords from search results and builds a word cloud. By clicking words in the cloud, you refine your query. Speciality: direct link with Amazon.

Another interesting search engine is Ujiko. With its oval outlook Ujiko looks like a game console. Depending on the quantity of research done, its applications increase. It combines research and a game! By encouraging us doing more research, increasing our levels; with each research it gives us points! This extrinsic motivation encourages us to continue searching. The console colors display also changes (in order not to be bored with our research). Specialty: sensation of playing a game.

The French web browser KartOO, allows among its applications, to see, fairly well, links between sites and blogs. Specialty: several interface languages options and the possibility as in a blog to change the desk image.

In its second version: kartoovisu we see, displayed on the right side of the site, a kind of green fluorescent word map that is quite attractive.

Even though it is different, Exalead reminds us immediately of Google. The difference is the small screen shots that appear next to each link. But this is very useful for (us) “visual learners”! Here you can search (as usual) links, images and videos but also for documents on your PC. Specialty: on the right side, there is a frame that helps, by proposing you to “narrow your search.”

Another browser is KoolTorch: a search engine that appears as sets. A visual set theory? Not very attractive in its outlook, it does so by colors, as “families”, each set is a different subject sought. Then there are sub-categories. Specialty: it is the only engine that has a direct link to e-bay.

Nowadays there is a brand new trend of other ways of visualizing things. Mainly thanks to more technical design masters, more mashups pop up everyday. The one reported here is Flokoon which is a very young French start-up, just launched in February 2008. It offers a more technical design display for videos, music or photos. In an interactive map form, it is possible to survey the research results from Fotolia, Youtube and Last.fm.

Personally, I use Flock. Its slogan is “the social web browser”. With flock we can do research with Quintura or any other engine we chose. For me, its display is crucial. In proposing direct tabs to link with Flickr and YouTube, flock’s display system allows at the same time to research on a specific theme and to see photos and videos that are around this theme  streaming at the top of our screen. The left side of our screen can be left open. Like this we are able to see our friends Facebook change in real time, it is as if they were hanging out with us in our search. Such a system allows chatting, searching, watching videos, everything at the same time.

We have, however, to manage several virtual spaces at the same time. Specialty: private and public virtually can be viewed at the same time.

Special for children
Among all these alternative search engines, there are those specially designed for children: uptoten, kindernet, yahooligans and takatrouver… everything to help them learn by playing! … Fragfinn, Quintura for kids… And there are probably others… it is more than hoped!

I imagine that something crucial for children and for their parents when choosing a search engine is its diagrammation: the page composition, the choice of colours, the typography, and the format, everything they look at is decisive… and of course, should change from one age bracket to another… These choices determine the way we visualize and learn how to visualize from a very early age!

We must stop those “introduction to computing” courses for 4-5-year old kids through Google!

It should be high lightened that the iconic system Uptoten uses is very similar to that of Facebook

Google’s scrolling reading system is a bit tiring. Internet goes too quick for Google and Pageranking vs social search, subjects have already been discussed; so let’s go down to the association topic, because in my opinion, it is one of Google’s most important, inconvenient, not to say the most important one. On this platform, we can neither compare nor associate between two or more links as it is possible in other engines, just stated above. In Google, it is the page rank classification tyranny. Neither can we associate the link with a (small) image, as the case, in Ujiko or Exalead, for example.

We already know that all (or almost all) in the Web is tagged: pictures, videos, texts, articles, blogs, links, even people. However, knowing and mastering other searching systems becomes essential. Let’s figure out why.

Example No. 1:
Imagine that we want to travel, for example to Budapest. Before leaving we will probably want to find a hotel that suits both our dates and budget. We will be very happy to check it out in a mashup that shows at the same time the hotel’s location on the city’s map and some photos and videos. A mashup example of this is Trivop, which combines Google Maps and images and advice on hotels.

Example No. 2:
But everything is not bad with Google. Please do not misunderstand me. (I use it every single day) and now I would really like to stick up for the today-not-so-new Google Earth version. It includes the possibility to see the sky virtually - the Google sky - and provides us with another way of perceiving our world. This has already had and will continue to have, a remarkable impact on our visualization methods and probably also on our planet earth perception. Google Earth is fascinating. Yes! Why? Because we have began to visualize the spatial relationships between the fragments: one can have at the same time the general gist, and then go to its  parts. But, why make you think about Google Earth? You will immediately understand. With new digital cameras and mobile phone generations (those that have GPS included) geo-tagging (the location of photos on a map) is as easy as it could be. As soon as you take a photo or video and you share them online, on flickr, picassa, etc., they will be automatically pinned on a map.

Now imagine the Rubik cube (our lab’s site icon). Now imagine it as a ball. Why am I speaking about this? Because there is an intrinsic link with a new application that I have just discovered and that struck my eyes. It is a new way to see and show photos as a planet system. It is called TagGalaxy.de. This system incorporates the solar system logic we have learned at school. With its planets and its satellites we are immediately seduced. Satellites, as the word indicates, turn around the sought subject and are related topics. Easy, pretty, the photos are placed as post-its, one after another, one next to the other; a sort of skin of the chosen planet. You can also turn the ball, find an image you like “click” it and view it larger. You might sometimes be lead to its flickr or original page. The post-its size will depend on the number of photos associated with that tag. The Earth surrounded by photos is a dream that has haunted us for a long time… and being able to watch it from home is at the same time beautiful and bizarre!

The fact that search engines determine the way we perceive the Web and its infinite possibilities is very interesting, fascinating. Changing habits is not immediate but it is always constructive. Different search engines condition us to find, to see or not. We do not realize how much they limit and shape us and our ways of building our knowledge, our thoughts and images.

Even if our new generation tools provide more applications, we tend to continue, reproducing the same old patterns. I must confess that it is impossible for me to do research without Google, even though I am aware of the limits this searching engine (sometimes) has. Maybe this is due to an inherent trust people have and tend not to question the platform.

In my opinion, these searching skills, like crossing results given by several engines, for example, should be more taught than most of the more technical computer skills that we are usually taught (like those that children are usually taught, usually those such as how to copy-paste or how to make a link)

It seems to me that today we forget a little too much to teach children and not only the youngest how a search should be done. Searching skills is something I strongly encourage people try to learn by themselves autonomously. The only matter is that many among us lack the time, the will or the thought of doing research about research.

So I strongly urge you to try different engines and visualisation systems and then, please, tell me… To be continued….

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Global, Guest Authors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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