Is it merely coincidence that Google introduces their social network Google Plus and then go onto acquire PittPatt, who have an arsenal of face recognition technology? Sure, Facebook recieved some flak for the idea before and Google Goggles was never made public, so - what is Google's intentions with PittPatt?

The obvious answer is that Google are looking to use PittPatt with Google Plus One, but after all of the complications of using face recognition (including data protection and numerous other issues) is it realistic?

So we are intrigued, where can Google implement the facial recognition? Google+ is still the likely place, but perhaps instead of tagging certain suggestions, it's likely that the 'Hangouts' – the video conferencing tool that has received incredible amounts of praise in these early states of BETA Google Plus – will be the recipient of the technology on offer. From video analytics tools to more precise focusing on the "right person" (the speaker) during a video conference, PittPatts technology could have a tremendous added impact here.

Still, there are other possibilities. Google Goggles could realistically still make use of facial recognition, while image searching, Google video chat in Gmail and GTalk, and various other applications could benefit from the purchase of PittPatt.

Where we are most excited about the acquisition, though, is in potential video services for businesses (both large and small). While Google hasn't directly indicated the exact details of Google Plus for businesses, the possibility of a business "Hangout" being used as either a showroom or maybe even an ad space would be made much more effective and easier to analyze with this particular software.

We are particularly intrigued Google, what do you have in store for us? What does this mean for SEO and Social Media?

Posted: 27/07/11 14:13