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Masterfile launches new image search technology dubbed “Endless Media”
Masterfile, a stock photography company based in Toronto with offices in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, has announced that it has launched a new online image search user interface called Endless Media. The company is touting that it spent more than a year re-thinking how to search for images and waiting for international patents on the unique methodology and its underlying logic. John McDonald, Masterfile’s Vice-President of Product Development and the technology’s creator, says “Think of it as visual logic for designers with the extreme speed of a desktop application. It’s a ‘type less and see more’ paradigm where users follow their own visual instincts to direct the search. There is nothing out there with its speed and simplicity… and this is just the beginning.”
The “Endless Media” name for the technology appears to have been derived from the fact that the user is presented with an “endless” horizontal image display with unlimited scrolling rather than the more typical pagination. The company touts that this display ‘eliminates “unproductive” mouse clicks and annoying pop-up windows while providing a unique display methodology that makes the site easier to navigate.’
In addition the company touts the following benefits:
• An “endless” horizontal image display eliminates the concept of “pages.
• The site’s unique design logic prevents users from losing their place when they refine their search within results.
• A powerful history feature allows users to review any of the images they’ve previewed a few minutes ago, or even a few months ago.
• An advanced and improved SimSearch automatically displays visual similars as well as images from the same shoot whenever a user previews (enlarges) an image.
• An innovative ”pairing” feature allows users to use any image to find other visually similar images of a different subject. This feature is ideal for rapidly selecting multiple images for communications media based on a visual theme or design.
• There is support for hundreds of lightboxes and up to 4 active ones to enable users to save images for multiple projects/concepts in one pass.
Says Masterfile President, Steve Pigeon: “A year ago I said we were working on something that would make our competitors weep. This is it. We have taken the search for images to an entirely new level. With Endless Media, you can see what you think.”
Web: www.masterfile.com
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