Vector representations are compared to estimate visual proximity between images.
Research fileED. 01 / PROTOTYPE
01 / Visual research lab
DesignWatch.
Visual similarity research for 3D designs and public marketplace listings.
Research prototype
01 / About
What is Design Watch?
Design Watch is an experimental Make a Maker research project exploring how visual similarity analysis may help compare reference images of 3D designs with images attached to public marketplace listings.
The system is intended to identify candidate listings that may deserve closer inspection. A similarity result is not proof of copying, infringement, ownership, illegality or any other legal conclusion.
02 / Method
How it works
- Reference materialImages supplied for an authorised experiment are prepared as visual references.
- Visual comparisonPretrained computer-vision models produce numerical representations that can be compared with images from candidate public listings.
- Candidate rankingThe tool ranks possible visual matches using similarity signals. The ranking is exploratory and may contain false positives or miss relevant items.
- Human reviewA person examines the underlying listing, context, source material, licence information and other relevant evidence.
03 / Technology
Technologies being evaluated
The prototype evaluates pretrained vision and image-comparison techniques. These technologies are used as research components, not as autonomous decision-makers.
CLIPSigLIPDINOv2Perceptual hashing
Different models and image regions may be assessed to understand their strengths and limitations.
Thresholds, false positives and false negatives are reviewed during controlled tests.
04 / Review
Human review, not automated enforcement
Design Watch does not automatically determine that a listing infringes rights, and it does not submit complaints, takedown requests or enforcement actions automatically. Outputs are potential matches and candidate listings only. Any further assessment must be performed by a human, with consideration of ownership, licences, context and the applicable platform process.
05 / Integrations
Marketplace integrations
Design Watch intends to access marketplace information only through official APIs or integrations expressly authorised by each platform. The project does not seek to bypass technical measures, access restricted information or conduct unauthorised scraping.
Availability, permitted data, retention rules and functionality will depend on the authorisation and terms provided by each marketplace. No operational Etsy integration or Etsy approval is claimed at this stage.
06 / Privacy
Privacy & data handling
During prototype testing, only data reasonably necessary to evaluate visual-similarity methods is processed. This may include reference images, public listing images, public listing metadata and technical evaluation results, subject to the relevant platform permissions and terms.
Design Watch does not sell or commercialise third-party data. Data is not used to make automated legal decisions. Test material is kept within the local development environment wherever practicable, access is limited to the developer, and unnecessary test data is removed when it is no longer required for the evaluation.
Future integrations may require this notice to be updated to reflect the exact API fields, retention periods and controls authorised by each platform.
07 / Status
Current development status
Design Watch is currently a local research prototype in active development. It is not a finished product, public monitoring service or automated enforcement system.
Access is limited to the developer during the experimental phase. Marketplace integrations are not assumed to be available and will only be implemented where official access or specific authorisation has been granted.
08 / Contact
Project contact
Questions about the project, its intended API use or its data handling can be directed to Make a Maker.
info@makeamaker.com
https://makeamaker.com