How Taobao's Visual Search Works

The Chinese retail giant could teach us all a thing or two.

Before we go hands-on with the visual search gizmos, let's pin down precisely what Taobao is.

As is increasingly the case these days, that's a harder task than it seems, prima facie.

These giant companies span industries and technologies, messing with our human desire to label everything in the process. 

So, Taobao was founded in 2003 by the Alibaba Group,…