At its I/O 2022 keynote today, Google provided a number of updates regarding search including a powerful new feature called scene exploration. One new addition is support for Google Lens inside the default Google Search bar, which makes it easier to point your camera at an object and look it up on the web. However, to support more natural search across a range of inputs, the company is looking to enhance multisearch by making it easier to find info about local businesses with the new Near Me feature.
That said, the big upcoming addition might actually be Scene Exploration, which uses your phone's camera to condense info from places like cluttered store shelves and then surface it in a more digestible way. On stage, Google demoed this by showing a picture of chocolate bars in a store, before using Scene Exploration to call out additional info like the presence of nuts, user ratings and more. And in the future Scene exploration will even call out details like products that are minority-owned or come from sustainable farming methods.
Additionally, as part of Google's ongoing efforts to promote racial equity, the company is updating image search so that users can filter results based on specific skin tones. This should make it easier to find the right shade of makeup or an outfit that works best for you. And, later this month, Google will also add new real tone filters in Google photos, with Google also making Professor Monk's skin tone scale available for open source collaboration.
Meanwhile, in order to provide more context about the web pages you visit, Google is adding a new tab in the Google App that includes a description of the site sourced from both the author and other comments from across the net.
Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!