I think at one point most of us have probably wondered what it would be like to query a search engine that returns 3D results. Nothing beats actually being able to see the contours, shapes, colors, textures of something. Words are so boring sometimes, and in reality how much do they actually tell about an image. Google at best can only highlight and index the words around the image or those words in the file name. But actually being able to scan an images itself and return results based on its properties is something new. The researchers and scientists at Princeton University have created "have put a 3-D search engine on the Web that lets anyone sketch an object using a computer mouse, add a textual description, then search for similar models in design databases." I drew and tried a search for "star" that brought back some interesting results.
Its definately worth a quick peak here: Princeton 3D Model Search Engine
