Automatic photo recognition: Tell me if this chest x-ray shows pneumonia

Just ask your computer: does this CXR shows pneumonia? One day it may be possible.

Of course, we all know that no machine can replace the human intelligence but the computers help us overcome our human limitations every day.

A company called Riya claims that their algorithms recognize facial features and can be trained to sort photos. Just include your nephew's photo in the program and tag it, let's say, Matthew. The program will then find with surprising accuracy all photos showing Matthew on your hard disk or on the web.

The Riya has not officially launched their product yet but Google already bought them for $ 30 million (this is the rumor, at least). This could be better than Flickr. Click to see the Riya tour and the founder's blog. See a video demonstration of how Riya works.

Google will continue their quest to organize all the world's information, including your photos.

Update 3/25/06:
Google did not buy Riya.com and it does not look they have any plans to do so. Riya is officially launched today. Click to register.

Update 11/8/06:
Riya changes its business model. Read more in Riya, vaporware, and hard problems, Geeking with Greg.

References:
First Screen Shots of Riya - TechCrunch
Video: Searching for the right face. News.com
Image source: Riya