Robert_Charlton - 9:24 am on Sep 9, 2012 (gmt 0)

Part of the "knowledge graph"?

I'd say very much so. Seems like this interface is a top end of a taxonomy of the types of "named entities" that are included in the knowledge graph... at least those which can be represented pictorially... so far mostly best-known pop figures that fit a category and major landmarks that fit a place. Hard to say whether these have emerged from the collection of entities that had been included in the Knowledge Graph, or whether it was a structure that was planned all along.

The interface is apparently being rolled out right now, and I've been seeing new features being added as it's evolving. Eg, the current display for [bridges america] now includes a text field in a black rectangle, located on the left side of the slider, which says...

Bridges frequently mentioned on the web

This text rectangle was not there when the evening started. It's gotten added as the display rolls out.

Clicking any one of the images retains the rows of images... they remain across the top... but the original query is lost in the search box and replaced by the name of each clicked image...

Effectively, this jumps the user one level down in the [bridges america] taxonomy. Clicking on each image brings up a whole new set of relevant Knowledge Graph entries results and search results... maps, key facts, etc, all leading to their own searches.

Perhaps this is just the beginning of something more elaborate... and who knows what other interface innovations will be introduced. I think it's extremely impressive. Main limitation now is that it's populated only by the most simple and iconic searches, and far from complete. Largest cities and result sets dominate, as might be expected at the start. Success, IMO, will be determine by how fast Google can bring out data for other more interesting searches. It's a promising beginning, though still basically superficial.

[saturn moons], one of the areas I follow online, is represented by a shot of each moon, but thus far Knowledge Base info doesn't go very deep, due perhaps to the search unfriendliness of the key sites on the topic.

Something like "things to do in xxx", I should note, if fully featured, might conflict with offerings of many commercial travel sites.