Advanced shape-search technology

Researchers with Purdue University’s Research and Education Center for Information Systems in Engineering (PRECISE) lab have created a new kind of search engine that lets users find items listed in an online catalog without ever needing to know the items' names, part numbers or keywords. Thanks to a major advancement in shape-search technology, all the user needs is a freehand sketch — a doodle. Purdue researchers have led the way toward developing search algorithms that rank among the world's fastest for a certain application: comparing 2-D and 3-D computer-aided design files and images that are ubiquitous in industry.

The technology is licensed to Imaginestics LLC, a Purdue Research Park company based in West Lafayette, Ind.

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