University of Glasgow computer scientists are part of a new project which will see the search page get its results from sources such as webcams.
The European-funded project, known as SMART, for Search engine for MultimediA environment geneRated contenT, aims to develop and implement a system to allow internet users to search from sensors such as webcams or microphones placed around cities. By matching search queries with information from sensors and cross-referencing data from social networks such as Twitter, users will be able to receive detailed responses to questions such as 'What part of the city hosts live music events which my friends have been to recently?' or 'How busy is the city centre?'
Currently, search engines such as Google are not able to answer queries of this type.
Dr Iadh Ounis of the University of Glasgow's School of Computing Science said: "The SMART project will be built on an open-source search engine technology known as Terrier, which we have been developing at the University since 2004, and we're pleased to be involved in this innovative research initiative.
"The SMART engine will be able to answer high-level queries by automatically identifying cameras, microphones and other sensors that can contribute to the query.
"SMART builds upon the existing concept of 'smart cities', physical spaces which are covered in an array of sensors which communicate with each other and can be searched for information.
"We expect that SMART will be tested in a real city by 2014."