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A new web tool that “could be as important as Google” has been shown off to the public, as reported here by the BBC.

The aim of Wolfram is to directly answer questions rather than displaying a list of ‘relevant’ websites. For example if asked the question “Who was the president of Brazil in 1923?” Wolfram would answer “Artur da Silva Bernardes”.

As well as this, Wolfram will also feature other functions to solve complex mathematical equations, plot scientific figures, or chart natural events. The main advantage is that rather than being merely a ‘Search Engine’ as we are used to, Wolfram will be able to provide answers to direct questions. It works using a technique known as natural language processing, and will allow people to interact with computers in an instinctive way.

Wolfram is currently set to go live here, at some point in May.

Personally I see this as being a great tool for working alongside Google. Wolfram would be great for getting specific answers to specific questions without having to trawl through one or more websites to find the exact piece of information you are looking for. Google will still have its use as a search engine for anything that isn’t a direct question that requires a less specific answer.