Tiltomo is a new image search site that allows you to search the Flickr database using keywords.  For results that are returned, you have links to find either more results that are similar by Theme, or results that are similar by Color / Texture.  While the text input describes itself as responding to flickr tags, the results you get are not the same results you would get by clicking on the corresponding tags in flickr.  The return order of the images seems to be somewhat randomized as submitting the same query repeatedly produces the same resultset but in a different order each time. 

Right now, the site has 2 databases you can search.  The first database is a 24 hour snapshot of the images recently uploaded to flickr, and is described as the ”General Images” database.  The second database comes from the Catchy Colors group on flickr.  The quality of the images in the Catchy colors database is much more consistent, and I fully expect the site to expand its coverage to further groups soon.

The related Color / Texture search works quite well in finding related photos with tonal similarities to a target image.  After finding a picture of day glow plastic horse toys for example, I submitted a request for related images and was pleased with the results.  Searches based on images with a strongly dominant color are especially effective.  In an open community where photos are free for the taking, this could be a fabulous tool for cobbling together borrowed images to produce a consistent look and feel in something you are building.   

The site is in a Beta period now and I can’t wait to see how it develops.  I’ve already bookmarked this site and will be watching it closely over the coming weeks.