From the website:
10×10 (‘ten by ten’) is an interactive exploration of words and photos based on news stories during a particular hour. The 10×10 site displays 100 photos, each photo representative of a word used in many news stories published during the current hour. The 10×10 site maintains an archive of these photos and words back to 2004. The 10×10 API is organized like directories, with the year, month, day and hour. Retrieve the words list for a particular hour, then get the photos that correspond to those words.
A preset mapping of words to photos but nothing would prevent an application from offering additional photos.
Not to mention enabling merging based on the recognition of photos.*
Replication of merging could be an issue if based on image recognition.
On the other hand, I am not sure replication of merging would be any less certain than asking users to base merging decisions based on textual content.
Reliable replication of merging is possible only when our mechanical servants are given rules to apply.
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*Leaving aside replication of merging issues (which may not be an operational requirement), facial recognition, perhaps supplemented by human operator confirmation, could be an interesting component of mass acquisition of images, say at border entry/exit points.
Not that border personnel need be given access to such information, a la Secret Intelligence – Public Recording Network (SIPRNet) systems, but a topic map could simply signal an order to detain, follow, get their phone number.
Simply dumping data into systems doesn’t lead to more “connect the dot” moments.
Topic maps may be a way to lead to more such moments, depending upon the skill of their construction and your analysts. (inquiries welcome)