Google's Image Recognition Service

Wouldn't it be great to snap a photo of a piece of art with your phone and see similar images? Recently Google launched a smartphone app that does just that, named "Google Goggles." 

Unlike other services it offers, Goggles is not something that you can use with a PC or Mac; it only works on camera-enabled Android, Blackberry, and Apple mobile devices (iPhones, iPad2s, or iPods). Here's a video of how it works:

Did your ears perk up when they talked about art? Mine sure did. Unfortunately for us, it has some limitations. Here's what it will and won't do:

• The image can only come from your phone's camera, not its photo "library" or folders.
• For now it works best for objects that don't change shape, like text, logos, artwork, or facial features.

If you don't have the right kind of phone, there are some services that can do the same thing from a PC.

• Gazopa, which will let you upload or draw images for searching.
• RevImg, which searches images you upload.
• Tineye, which searches for the EXACT image. This can be useful for checking to see if other people are using your artwork without permission.

Give it a try and tell us what you think about it in the comments!