Overview
ISO/TR 23846:2022 - "Biomimetics - Image search engine" is a Technical Report from ISO/TC 266 that describes prototypes and design principles for an image search engine (ISE) tailored to biomimetics. The report focuses on the use, value and conceptual design of a similarity-based image retrieval system that helps translate biological image information (notably SEM images) into engineering inspiration. The ISE is positioned as an idea-creation support tool that reduces barriers between biology and engineering by enabling image-driven discovery without requiring domain-specific keywords.
Key topics and technical points
- Scope and purpose: Describes prototypes of a biomimetics image search engine and explains its value for idea creation and technology transfer.
- Core concepts: Definitions for data, database, image retrieval system, ontology and thesaurus as applied to biomimetics.
- Image-based methods:
- Similarity-based image retrieval: Automatically arranges images by visual/structural similarity so users can explore large SEM image collections (report references a database of ~9 900 SEM images).
- Keyword-free retrieval: Enables retrieval and browsing without keyword input, valuable where tacit knowledge is hard to verbalize.
- Retrieval for awareness: Designed to induce awareness and support ideation rather than to assert functional equivalence.
- Complementary informatics methods:
- Ontology-Enhanced Thesaurus (OET) - ties biology and engineering vocabularies (see ISO/TR 23845).
- Bio-TRIZ - applies TRIZ inventive principles to biological solutions (see ISO/TR 23847).
- Design principle: An “idea-creation support” retrieval theory that emphasizes arranging similar images to make patterns visible across large datasets.
- Limitations noted: The ISE searches for structural resemblance of appearance; structural similarity does not automatically imply functional equivalence.
Applications and practical value
- Idea generation for materials and surface design: Discover biological surface structures (via SEM imagery) that inspire coatings, textures, adhesives, or hydrophobic/drag-reducing surfaces.
- Cross-disciplinary innovation: Allows engineers, designers and materials scientists to access biological morphology without deep biology expertise.
- Patent and concept development: Supports early-stage invention and concept exploration by surfacing visual analogues from nature.
- Education and knowledge transfer: Turns tacit biological insights into explicit visual candidates for study and prototyping.
- Data science / digital libraries: Guides the creation of curated SEM image databases and similarity-indexed image repositories.
Who should use this standard
- Biomimetics researchers and practitioners
- Materials scientists, mechanical and product designers
- Innovation teams, R&D managers, and patent developers
- Data scientists building image retrieval engines and digital biology libraries
- Standards developers and knowledge-infrastructure planners
Related standards
- ISO/TR 23845 - Biomimetics - Ontology-Enhanced Thesaurus (OET) for biomimetics
- ISO/TR 23847 - Application of TRIZ to biomimetics (Bio-TRIZ)
Keywords: ISO/TR 23846:2022, biomimetics image search engine, similarity-based image retrieval, SEM image database, ontology-enhanced thesaurus, Bio-TRIZ, image retrieval for biomimetics, idea creation support, tacit knowledge.