The time is right for image-recognition applications to take off in the mobile world. A report by Strategy Analytics states that 257 million camera phones were shipped in 2004, a figure forecast to grow to more than 850 million by 2009. This means there is enormous potential for the images captured on mobile phones to be used for MMS-based visual searches or marketing campaigns.

Image or object recognition is a technology that gives devices the ability to analyze an image, recognize certain patterns and make a connection to existing information – in essence giving it the ability to “see.” This technology has advanced to the point where images seen or captured at different angles, or under different lighting conditions, can still be recognized easily. It is also simple enough to work with existing camera-phone technology. Hans-Günther Brosius, chief executive officer of Mobile Vision Technologies in Germany, says there is no need to install an application onto a user's mobile phone. “We need only the picture. The resolution does not even need to be very high for the server to recognize the image. It works with as low a resolution as 160x120 pixels” he says.

Image recognition is not new: it is already used in a multitude of applications, from navigation systems for vacuum cleaners to security systems at airports. Several companies with backgrounds in the robotics field have recently begun developing image-recognition applications for the mobile industry. Mobile Vision Technologies is one that has piloted several image-recognition services for mobile marketing campaigns.

“A user sends a picture via MMS to our server and the server recognizes it, after which you can perform some interactive activities. You can then send the customer a ringtone, product information, links to a website or a prize,” Brosius says. “No more sending SMS. You only have to take a picture to get more information about a product or an advertisement.”

Internet-search giant Google recently announced its purchase of Neven Vision, a California-based company specializing in visual search technology. Its idea is that mobile users will be able to take a picture of a location, product or advertisement and use Google’s search engine to receive detailed information about the image as well as targeted advertisements. Neven’s i-Scout product has already been used in Germany for a mobile marketing campaign with Coca-Cola in which users who sent in photos of a Coca-Cola logo received mobile content and prizes in return.

“The value for operators is an increase in their MMS traffic. At the moment, MMS traffic is too low,” Brosius says. Despite poor returns so far, there is optimism in the market when it comes to increasing MMS revenues. Analyst company Yankee Group says MMS revenues accounted for 3 percent of Spain’s Telefónica Móviles' total data revenue in 2005, up from 1 percent the previous year. Yankee Group also reported that, in Western Europe alone, MMS revenues will increase to EUR 5.8 billion by 2009.

Along with increased revenues, the prospect of targeted marketing campaigns is also interesting. “Print advertising is expensive and you have no information about the customer. With visual search you get information directly from the customer,” Brosius says.

The entrance of companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo into the mobile space could potentially reshape the entire competitive landscape. It is not unthinkable that a company such as Google or Microsoft could establish itself as the default platform for surfing the mobile internet and compete against mobile operators using its VoIP services. Yahoo and Google have already signed partnership agreements with several 3G operators, while Skype is being made available via the 3 Group’s networks. “The mobile phone will be a personal assistant in the future and will always be connected to the internet. Visual search could be key to finding information,” Brosius says.

But for now, the development of image-recognition applications will result in some interesting new ways to use MMS and to perform internet searches. “You can use this technology as a tourist guide. If you have all the buildings in a particular city in the database and a user takes a picture of a location, he or she can get information about interesting buildings, restaurants, directions and so on,” Brosius says. “My favorite idea is to use this in a museum. Instead of using an audio guide with headphones, you can use your cell phone to take a picture of what you are seeing.”

By David Francisco