Researchers develop 3-D search engine

[dArKeR]

By Brian Bergstein
The Associated Press
Updated: 6:24 p.m. ET April  15, 2004

NEW YORK - The mind-boggling speed and reach of Internet search engines mask a severe limitation: They are powered by words alone. But the world is full of objects and patterns. Now computing researchers have developed 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.

"The idea of information and knowledge, and retrieval of knowledge, has been something I've been intrigued with for a long time. This gives it a more solidified meaning," said Karthik Ramani, a Purdue University professor who created a system that can find computer-designed industrial parts.

Helpful for companies
Ramani expects his search engine will serve huge industrial companies whose engineers often waste time and energy designing a specialized part when someone else has already created, used or rejected something similar.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4750721/

Don't any of you repukes moles inside the DU ever get pissed off how aWol's wasting our tax dollars could have gone to real R&D to improve Americas economy, educational facilities... The $1 Trillion wasted into the military industrial complex would be equal to $3 Trillion invested into the private capital sector.

[xchrom]

1. they live in fear of the ever present danger

clinton's penis presents to the world.
that's why we have to go to war and build up the military complex -- nary a day goes by but a conservative spends 8 hours thinking about bill's mighty penis.