Post on 25-Dec-2015
Equation Search & Beyond
• Equation Search Today• The Challenge• Symbolab Scientific Search• Scholar Search• The Future of Search• Online Education• Knowledge Is Power
Equation Search Today
Equation Search In a Nutshell
• Scientific contentEncyclopedias, academic papers, courses, patents, forums, …
• Scientific languageEquations, formulas, mathematical expressions
• Symbols & notationsUse of scientific symbols & notations
• Search science with science
Google Plot
Great plot, but what are you really
looking for?
…and Search?Irrelevant results
Bing Search…
How is this related exactly?
Wolfram Computational EngineWikipedia like computation knowledge
LaTex Search
How come (x+y)^n does work but (y+x)^n
doesn’t?
Can Keyword Search Work?
• What if we search for
• we should also get results for , , …
• and preferably for
• On top of that, we shouldn’t get results for
The Challenge
The Problem: Scientific Search Today
• Keyword search• No support for scientific notations• LaTex is no fun• Heuristic approach• Poor relevancy• Computational emphasis
The Challenge: The Scientific Language
• Flexible grammar & vocabulary• Order matters• Priority of features• Disambiguation within and across disciplines
The Solution: Semantic Search
• Machine learning algorithms• Scientific expression matching• Contextual scientific analysis• Relevancy
SymbolabScientific SearchEngine
Computation
Semantic Search Results
Text Search
ScholarSearch
Google Scholar
Emphasis on citations, Keyword
search…
Publications are not free of charge
No thank you!
Microsoft Academic Search
Topic mining, Social graph,
Keyword search…
Symbolab Scholar
Research Tool
• Scientific language• Connect obscure mathematical discoveries from
disparate fields of science• Free open content
TheFutureofSearch
The Knowledge Graph
• From strings to things• Making the web into structured objects• Connecting these objects• Knowledge is about understanding things
Symbolab - Building For The Future
• Semantic search• Equations as things• Scientific knowledge graph• Q&A infrastructure
Online Education
Equation Search - Why Now
• Growing demand• Digitalization of libraries• More content is now publically available• Emphasis on STEM• Online education
Online Education
• Limited access to on-campus classesaccess for students who would otherwise be unable to afford or attend collegeBudget cuts have resulted in fewer instructors and oversubscribed classes
• Lack of customized programsstudents can learn at the pace that’s right for them
• Restricted innovation in course contentdrive new, hybrid learning methods create innovative content
Online Education Stats
• 30% of higher-education students in the U.S taking at least one class online )6.2 mm students), expected to rise to 37% by 2015
• U.S. average per online pupil expenditures is $6,400, per traditional pupil expenditures is $10,000
Knowledge Is Power
• Can Symbolab hurt children’s ability to solve math problems?
• Should children struggle with hard problems over days?
• Children are curious by nature, they want to learn, but they want to learn their way
• Symbolab opens a window to the science content• Help people overcome the barrier of the
“scientific language”
Fear Of Math
• 60% of university students suffer from math anxiety• Overcome math anxiety by:
Accommodating for different learning styles Making math relevant Allowing for different social approaches to learning
mathematics Emphasizing the importance of original, quality thinking
rather than rote manipulation of formulas
Knowledge is power, by enabling equation search we empower students, teachers, parents and researches, we empower us
• Michal Avny, Co-Founder – CEOFormer head of Relegence ILLead to a successful acquisition by AOLInformation Retrieval & Realtime Search expertBSc Mathematics & Computer Science
• Adam Arnon, Co-Founder– Chief ScientistBSc Physics & EconomicsMathematics grad student2y algorithm development
• Lev Alyshayev, Co-Founder– CTOBSc Mathematics & Computer ScienceMBA technology entrepreneurship11y developing search technologies
• Prof Erez Etzion, Advisory BoardPhysics Professor at the University of Tel AvivMember and advisor of the Search & Discovery board of CERN
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The Team
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMS2C_nfXbQ
Thank You
Michal Avny@michalavnymichal.avny@gmail.comhttp://symbolab.com/