Google search algorithms will soon be trawling the visual contents of videos, in the same way they currently search for words in pages of text.

Searchable video

Google’s newly announced Cloud Video Intelligence API makes video files genuinely searchable. Even without pre-existing metadata, the visual contents of a clip can be catalogued in seconds.

The script effectively scans video frames for objects that appear, and even ascribed other nouns on the basis of what it sees. For example, analysis of a video about the Los Angeles Zoo notes not only Animal, Wildlife and Zoo, but also Nature, Tourism and Tourist Destination.

It’s even possible to perform a keyword search on videos, and receive a list of results that shows which videos and scenes contain relevant objects.

Cataloguing cloud vision

Presently, it’s being touted as a way to extract useful metadata from video files that are in the user’s possession.

As the first word in it’s project title implies, Cloud Video Intelligence API specifically aims at analysing files that are kept in Google Cloud Storage.

In its current incarnation, Cloud Video Intelligence API will be instantly valuable to organisations that have large supplies of video that need cataloguing.

It may also come in handy for apps and services that use crowd-sourced video content.

At present, the Cloud Video Intelligence API is in Private Beta. If you’re interested in getting in on that action, you can apply online.

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