Company: FookyLaunched: in beta, should launch in October 2005
Creator: Ed Dunn
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Ed Dunn has been developing Fooky since 1999. While it’s currently in private beta, I’ve had the opportunity to swap emails with Ed and check out the service in its current form. There is definitely something interesting about the service, and it will be worth checking out once it goes live. For now, you can view low quality screen shots on the home page and view a flash presentation that includes additional information.
The uniqueness of Fooky lies in its approach to artificial intelligence and natural language commands, as well as a clean interface:
Fooky.com uses a single textbox interface as its primary input source. Users can input phrases, commands or conversation to process information. Fooky do not prefer Boolean text searches, opting to search keywords separated by comma to get actually what is requested. Users can also enter direct commands such as “get stock quote for S” or “get traffic for Chicago” to go directly to rich content, not hyperlinks. Also users can enjoy conversation with Fooky.com by simply typing in “hello” or “how are you” in the textbox interface. As more users have conversation with Fooky.com, it will get smarter and able to launch the secret “Artificial Friend” service once a threshold is met.
Fooky.com uses multiple spiders and in-house processors to locate and filter web sites for quality and relevance. Fooky.com is one of the few destination sites that consider the quality of the web sites indexed seriously. Our spiders are able to read web code and determine if the site is using tactics designed to hijack the browser settings or download code without user knowledge. Fooky.com use a scoring system based on various factors including the presentation of the site home page, the web site operator credibility as a business or organization and use of code or techniques such as pop-up or pop-under pages.
Web site operators will find Fooky.com use of their web site Meta tags more practical, cost efficient and beneficial to their business than bidding for generic keywords. By embracing Meta tag usage, web site operators are empowered to control their Meta information and search criteria on their terms. Fooky.com is able to embrace Meta tags by its quality inclusion policy that believes quality web sites provide quality Meta information that can be trusted.
Ed is also thinking ahead to the mobile market and the need for simple text and voice input mechanisms:
Why would someone choose Fooky.com over Yahoo, Google and MSN?
I believe people will appreciate how easier and practical it is to query and retrieve content. Fooky.com is also designed to move beyond the desktop with ease. Our phrase-based model makes it easier for mobile devices. On a mobile phone for example, it is easier to key in a command “get showtimes for 60618″ than click down levels of theatre related hyperlinks. When the automotive industry get wired, Fooky.com can seamlessly allow voice recognition to process phrase-based commands such as “get traffic for Chicago”
It’s too early to point the thumb up or down for Fooky, but we look forward to seeing the live service. In the meantime, I highly recommend running the flash presentation in 4-5 browser windows simultaneously. The music is cool, and you can get an awesome beat going when it overlaps with itself. :-)