Piclet

Since 2005, the stock image market has been developing strongly – “the percentage of
creatives planning to purchase rights-managed images in the next 12 months has risen from
26% to 38% and the percentage planning to purchase royalty-free images has risen from
27% to 64%” (Trendwatch GA, 2005). The emergence of microstock sites (lower-cost,
royalty-free images) does not seem to have stemmed market growth. This has had a
dramatic impact on the established stock image market. Seeing the emerging trend, major
image providers have bought up microstock sites (i.e. Getty’s purchase of iStockphoto).
However, due to the proliferation of microstock sites and the disparity in image value,
traditional stock image sites began to lose money quickly (before being taken over by Getty,
Jupiter lost 2/3 of its value in 2 years as it became unable to compete in the new market
model). In addition to the changing market dynamics, total revenues are predicted to fall.
Corbis, a major stock company, forecasts the market to slide to $2.2 billion in 2011, from
$2.3bn in 2007. With the global recession, this is could slide even further!!
A major reason for this has been the growth of increased Internet bandwidth. Digitisation has
also increased the amount of freely available digital content on an unprecedented scale.
This has created a perception in consumers of believing that digital media should be
available for free, as shown by the prevalence of advertising revenue models increased
digital piracy and copyright infringements. Online photos have been no exception. Pictures
from free sites such as Google Images and AltaVista Image Search give people access to
huge quantities of images that are used in social networking sites, blogs and personal web
sites. Users can find almost anything they want and many, even in business, are happy to
put up with low quality if they do not have to pay!!
The problem is one of changing consumer behaviour so that they move away from freely
available pictures to purchasing them. iTunes from Apple is proof that this can be done.
Users can purchase music and movies easily. This process is so simple that it makes it more
likely that consumers will make purchases rather than download content from the Internet.
There has been relatively little innovation in the stock image industry since the introduction
of online viewing with most sites operating in essentially the same fashion. Although some
sites have adopted subtle changes in business models such as exclusive contracts,
subscription services and variable pricing, there have hardly been any developments in
image search technologies. Sites have mainly focused on forcing the contributor to provide
very detailed tag data to eliminate semantic ambiguities. This has led to poor site
performance and is usually only suitable for re-finding images that are known to exist on the
site.
PICLET: Project Overview!
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We aim to develop a novel photo and design community for the benefit of consumers,
making considerable enhancements over existing systems. By using enhanced visual-based
searching for accurate image retrieval, easier design of templates such as brochures and
web pages, with automated uploading of images into these documents the overall process of
purchasing and consuming images becomes quicker. The result is a better user experience,
more convenience for customers wanting to purchase high quality images and higher quality
document creation. The technology will also provide a resource for professionals to be able
to commercialise their stock. The business opportunity will be represented by adding value
through significant savings in time translating into cost. The project will develop an
innovative integrated image search and design tool to help stem the decline of the online
photography industry, which is threatening the livelihood of professional stock photographers
who are finding it increasingly difficult to make money in a ‘content is free’ society.
The technology is anticipated to provide significant advancements in the process of image
purchasing, from enhanced searching that retrieves content relevant images to quicker and
specific uploading of images into design templates and desktop publishers. Piclet will aim to
create an environment that is convenient and easy to use and provides the consumer with a
more pleasurable user experience. In the process Piclet will also create new revenue
streams for skilled photographers, who at present are competing with the free content model
and availability of low quality images. Future possibilities also include further revenue
creation through affiliates, advertising and the formation of new partnerships through social
media sites like facebook and twitter.
Our aim is to make image use so easy and intuitive that it negates the benefits of free
content. Piclet will dramatically reduce search times and increase accuracy by creating an
‘image universe’, mapping images by similarity using advanced Neural Network technology.
Combined with an intelligent plug-in tool for desktop publishing packages, users will be
allowed to search directly from their document allowing the search to take in aspects such as
space, resolution and even perhaps a designer’s freehand sketch. Auto image manipulation
will add final professional touches. Piclet will allow users to populate documents with images
up to 80% faster than is currently possible, saving time, money and improving document
quality for non-professionals.
Once established, we believe Piclet can generate £20m p.a. for the UK economy. The digital
photography market is set to reach $100.4 billion in 2013, and continue to increase with a
compound annual growth rate of 13.3%.