MathSeer: A math-aware search interface with intuitive formula editing, reuse, and lookup

Abstract

There has been growing interest in math-aware search engines that support retrieval using both formulas and keywords. An important unresolved issue is the design of search interfaces: for wide adoption, they must be engaging and easy-to-use, particularly for non-experts. The MathSeer interface addresses this with straightforward formula creation, editing, and lookup. Formulas are stored in ‘chips’ created using handwriting,, and images. MathSeer sessions are also stored at automatically generated URLs that save all chips and their editing history. To avoid re-entering formulas, chips can be reused, edited, or used in creating other formulas. As users enter formulas, our novel autocompletion facility returns entity cards searchable by formula or entity name, making formulas easy to (re)locate, and descriptions of symbols and notation available before queries are issued.