Google said Thursday that it’s rolling out a new tool called Multisearch that allows people to search with a combination of photos and text. This feature uses artificial intelligence to help people find what they’re looking for through more intuitive means.
For example, you might want to learn how to take care of a rose but may not know the exact species. Multisearch allows you to take a photo of the rose and add “care instructions” as text. Multisearch will then find the result. An example laid out in a press release includes taking a photo of an orange dress and adding “green” to the search query to look for the item in that color. Multisearch will not only find images of similarly styled green dresses, but also give purchasing options from retailers.
To use the tool, open up the Google app either on Android or iOS, tap the Lens icon to take a photo or pull up a saved image in a gallery. Then swipe up to see the current list of results and tap the “+ Add to your search” button to add additional query text.
The feature is currently in beta for English users in the US.
