Imlooking: image-based face retrieval in online dating profile search

Textual search, the approach used by the majority of existing online dating sites, successfully covers a variety of attributes, such as age range and gender, but falls short when searching for facial features. Meanwhile, by using images as the query in a search, current image-based face-retrieval applications ease the challenge of textual description from users, but only focus on finding the same person. We believe there is a gap that needs to be filled in image-based face retrieval to further support the interpersonal search scenarios on Internet dating sites. Therefore, we are introducing a profile search prototype -- ImLooking - using an augmented image-based face retrieval filter. First, we present a prototype design and offer technical support. In a user study, participants quickly felt at home in user interface and acclimatized to the way the prototype operates. In addition, they reported they enjoyed the interaction process.