Exploring a New Search Engine: Galaxy IT - Fractal-Grid Technology in Action
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So what is this fractal-grid technology and how does it work? It might help to picture a tic-tac-toe board – that can be expanded to infinity. That was King’s original inspiration when it comes to search results. Your keyword is in the center square, and surrounded by eight other results. You can adjust a toggle to zoom in and out to get more results, all surrounding the original nine-square grid.
Okay, so let’s see this in action. Before I start searching, though, I’m going to show you their search box:
So far it looks pretty simple, right? Well, I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between “classic” and “organized,” and I’ve read their press release. But let’s dig in anyway. Valentine’s Day wasn’t that long ago as I’m writing this, so I’m still thinking about flowers. Let’s see what happens when I search for them:
As you can see, “flowers,” my search query, is in the middle box. In the top row are links to a number of online retailers who sell flowers, along with short descriptions. Across the bottom are two other florists, plus a link to a flower garden show coming up in November. In the middle row are two links to the same Wikipedia flower article.
I’d like to draw your attention to the far left, where you’ll see an indicator that says “levels” sitting in the middle of the scale. You have a choice of O, 1 (the default) or 2. So what happens if you take it to 2? Here’s a screen shot:
The original query is still in the center. The numbered boxes around it correspond to the original responses you saw in the previous screen shot. But now there are eight more boxes around that original set – and each of those boxes contains nine more, rather like a variation on an old nine-patch quilt. I hovered over one of those smaller boxes so you could see what happens: you get a tooltip that gives you a little more information about the link. The boxes are so small that there really isn’t any other way to provide you with extra detail.
Are those boxes a little too tiny for you? There’s another way to get that fractal effect without going quite that small. Move the level indicator back to one, click somewhere on the screen, and use your scroll wheel. The boxes move in and out, showing more levels without giving you something that looks like a nine-patch. Here’s a screen shot of what happens when you “zoom out” to the next set of boxes:
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