Quintura - visual search client review

Visual search engines have been around for almost a decade, and I've tried almost all of them (including the ones I had to pay for) 'The Bain' and 'Web Slueth' to name a few going back a decade. So, when I heard that Quintura was offering their new visual search engine for free, I had to try it. There is also a demo here for those not ready to install. My first impressions show a lot of promise for an initial release and you will see why too. Quintura has the ability to refine your search results in a visual way by surrounding the words from the original query with words that have been determined to be likely to be associated. Hovering over a related word shows the search query narrowed down with this extra search term. You simply delete the floating words and your query is automatically narrowed in the side pane. The interactivity is fun to play with and the presentation is beautiful. Quintura is a bit limited for the advanced researcher for the following reasons: 1. Limited number of search engines to choose from 2. Cannot add search engines unless via plugging from the Quintura site 3. Limited number of dictionaries to choose from 4. Cannot add dictionaries unless via said plugging Conclusion: I like it. I hope Quintura aggressively develops this platform. I'm sure some people would even pay to be able to customize their own plugging as well (Lexis Nexis anyone ?) In addition, I think this is a great tool for introductory search types such as children and the elderly.