Here is how-to help when you don’t recognize an object nor know the object’s name. You can use special reverse image search engines that attempt to analyze a photo and suggest what it is.
The need
- You have an object or a photo of an object.
- You don’t know the name of the object or what it’s for.
- Since you don’t know, how can you search for it on Google?
The solution
Reverse image search
Background
The Liar’s Club was a 1970s-era TV game show featuring celebrity guests who provided explanations of obscure or unusual objects. Only one of the celebrities would be telling the truth. Contestants would attempt to determine which celebrity was telling the truth in order to win prizes.
If you ever feel like a contestant on the Liar’s Club around the office or factory when you discover a part, tool or just random object you’ve never seen before, the internet provides a few ways for you to attempt to play a modern-day version of the Liar’s Club—without the celebrities. With a little sprinkling of artificial intelligence pixie dust, the magic of “reverse image search” may come through for you.
How to do a reverse image search using a web-based search engine
- Use your smartphone or digital camera to capture an image of the object.
- Visit one or more of these reverse image search engines and follow the directions to upload an image file or use the drag-and-drop feature
- Google Images
- ImageIdentity.com (a project of WolframAlpha)
- TinEye.com
- Bing Images (Image Match)
How to do a reverse image search using a smartphone app
There are some reverse image search engine apps that do the same type of image search described above. .
- Google Goggles (Android only)
- CamFind (Android, iOS)
- LeafSnap (iOS) – OK, so it only recognizes leaves and flowers, but it’s amazing.
What if your attempts at reverse image search don’t work?
Well, at least one guy wouldn’t give up when his reverse image searches failed. He set up a Tumblr account with a perfect domain name: What is this thing called?