Swirl: Cool Image Search From Google Labs

Google Image Search is one of the most popular ways of finding images on the web. Now, a Swirl version which is currently in Google Labs allows you to search for Images using an innovative ‘wheel’ pattern for displaying the results.

Basically, when you search for an image results such as the one below will be show. All similar images or images in the same category are grouped together in stacks as you can see.

When you click on one of these stacks, it’s expanded into a wheel format with the main images being at the centre. When you click on one of the related images it gets moved into the centre along with images related to it. The original batch of images is then moved away to the side in a new circle but is still connected by a line. You can see this in the screenshot below.

By constantly clicking images, more subsequent circles and related images are created. As you keep clicking, you search is then narrowed down to the point where just one image will be left in the main circle with the rest ‘swirling down’ in a spiral behind it. When you click on that image the Google Images page is opened as it would in normal search results.

Think of this as a huge family tree for images on the internet.

• Search Results in ‘Stacked’ style.
• Narrow them down using Swirl.
• Similar and related images grouped together.

Check it out at image-swirl.googlelabs.com (by Dean Sherwin from ArtofStinginess)