Search by Spatial Query: Text to Pictorial Queries

Traditional search engines use text-based queries to perform top-k keyword search. However, this approach does not always capture every user intention. For example, pattern-based spatial search can better answer queries involving spatial constraints (i.e. X North of Y). However, pattern-based search usually requires a pictorial query pattern as input, constructed by a user dragging and dropping objects on a canvas in a specialized interface. To bridge the gap between pattern-based spatial search and traditional search engines that require text input, we devise a Natural Language to Pictorial Query (NL2PQ) module that converts natural language queries into pictorial queries that can be refined then resolved using spatial pattern matching algorithms, thus enabling pattern based spatial search via natural language input.

@inproceedings{schneider2025c, title={Search by Spatial Query: Text to Pictorial Queries}, author={Schneider, Nicole R and Das, Avik and O’Sullivan, Kent and Samet, Hanan}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 33rd ACM International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems}, pages={804–807}, year={2025} }