The Geometric Search Engine (GSE) is able to search and retrieve shapes based on the computation of similarity using one or more methods. Typically, methods for 3D object retrieval are based on geometric properties and each shape is characterized by a so-called signature (or descriptor). A "signature" is a compact description of the 3D object often represented by a real number, a vector, a graph etc. so that its complexity is much less than the full 3D representation.
Currently the GSE can compute signatures only for triangle meshes using the following descriptors (or combination of them): Spherical Harmonics, Light Field, Shape Distributions and Inner Distances.
Similarity between 3D models is defined by computing the distance among their signatures. Therefore, the retrieved models are sorted based on the similarity distance between their descriptors.

You can explore the repository by similarity in two different ways:

Either by starting from an existing shape in the Shape Repository i.e. click on Browse models, select a specific shape to view its details, and then click on the "Find models with similar shape" button on the right.
(Note: this is available only for mesh models.)

Or by starting from a shape uploaded by the user.
(Note: only .off mesh files are currently allowed.)