System and method for using multimedia content as search queries

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing one or more processing units to execute a method for searching a plurality of information sources using a multimedia element, comprising:

• receiving at least one multimedia element;
• generating for the at least one multimedia element at least one signature that is unidirectional, and yields compression;
• generating a textual search query using the at least one generated signature;
• wherein the generating of the textual search query comprises:
• (a) searching for at least one matching stored signature that matches one or more of the at least one signature;
• and (b) using a mapping between stored signatures and textual search queries, selecting at least one textual search query mapped to at least one matching stored signature;
• searching the plurality of information sources using the at least one textual search query;
• causing a display of search results retrieved from the plurality of information sources;
• creating an overlay on the at least one multimedia element for receiving at least one search parameter representing an intent of the user;
• wherein the at least one multimedia element includes one or more portions, wherein the method comprises generating a signature for each of the one or more portions of the at least one multimedia element;
• wherein a plurality of signatures are mapped to a single textual search query;
• and
• clustering any one of signatures generated for the one or more portions of the at least one multimedia element and the at least one signature to generate a clustered signature;
• and searching the query database using the clustered signature.

A system for searching a plurality of information sources using a multimedia element, comprising:

• an interface to a network and configured to receive at least one multimedia element;
• a signature generator system (SGS) configured to generate for the multimedia element at least one signature that is unidirectional, and yields compression;
• wherein the signature generator system comprises:
• a plurality of computational cores configured to receive the at least one multimedia element, each computational core of the plurality of computational cores having properties that are at least partly statistically independent from other of the plurality of computational cores, wherein the properties are set independently of each other core;
• a query generator, wherein the query generator is configured to:
• generate at least one textual search query using at least one signature generated for the received at least one multimedia element, by (a) searching for at least one matching stored signature that matches one or more of the at least one signature;
• and (b) using a mapping between stored signatures and textual search queries, selecting at least one textual search query mapped to at least one matching stored signature;
• search the plurality of information sources using the at least one textual search query;
• and
• cause a display of search results retrieved from the plurality of information sources on a user device.