Preface

With the in-depth integration of mobile Internet and artificial intelligence technology, image search has become one of the core basic functions of Web websites and mobile APPs, completely subverting the interactive mode of traditional text retrieval. From “search similar products by image” on e-commerce platforms, “image traceability” on social software, “image search” on browsers, to “defect image retrieval” in the industrial field and “target comparison search” in the security field, image search has fully penetrated public life and industrial scenarios with its intuitive, efficient and accurate interactive advantages. Compared with traditional text search which relies on keyword matching and semantic interpretation, image search realizes “direct visual content retrieval”. It does not require users to input text, and can complete accurate matching and content recall of massive image libraries only through image pixel information and visual features.

The implementation of modern Web & APP image search functions is by no means simple pixel comparison, but an in-depth coupling product of advanced AI vision technology and core mathematical algorithms. Its underlying architecture covers core mathematical theories such as linear algebra, probability theory, topological geometry and optimization algorithms. The middle layer relies on cutting-edge AI technologies including deep learning, computer vision and large-model multimodal fusion. The upper layer adapts to the engineering requirements of Web lightweight deployment, APP high concurrency and cross-terminal compatibility, forming a complete, closed-loop and iterative technical system.

This paper comprehensively and deeply disassembles the technical core of Web & APP image search functions from eight dimensions: technological evolution, underlying mathematical principles, core AI technologies, full-link architecture, engineering implementation, scenario application, pain point optimization and future trends. It fully covers the full-dimensional content from basic pixel operation to high-order multimodal AI retrieval and from single-machine algorithm logic to distributed cluster deployment, providing systematic, detailed and practical technical references for technical practitioners, R&D engineers and industry researchers.