Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Graphic manipulation
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-28
2001-10-23
Luu, Matthew (Department: 2672)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Graphic manipulation
C345S630000, C345S632000, C345S633000, C345S634000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06307568
ABSTRACT:
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system and a method for fitting articles of clothing to an image of a user over the Internet, and more particularly, to an automatic system and a method for fitting articles of clothing on a real image of the user.
Electronic commerce through the Internet is increasing exponentially. Computer users are able to purchase goods and services through the Internet, often placing such purchases through the Web site of a vendor. One difficulty inherent with clothing purchases over the Internet is the inability to try the clothing on before it is purchased. A user would obviously prefer to be able to try on the article of clothing before purchase, to examine the fit and size of the article of clothing on the body of the individual user.
A number of solutions have been proposed to overcome this drawback for purchasing clothing through the Internet. For example, a software package from ModaCAD™ is only able to show clothing on a stylized mannequin and not on an image of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,528 discloses a software program which fits a set of dimensions of the user into one of a predetermined set of models of the human body. The particular characteristics which make each individual unique are lost in this transition. For example, if a user had a slightly crooked back, this back would be straightened to the “normative” model. The disclosed program also moves the body of the user to fit the clothing model. For example, if the hands of the user are not in the appropriate position for the modeled clothes, then the software moves the hands accordingly. Furthermore, the software requires manual intervention to obtain a good fit of the dimensions of the body of the user to the model. Thus, the software disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,528 clearly has many drawbacks.
Therefore, there is an unmet need for, and it would be highly useful to have, a method and a system which displays an image of an article of clothing as it would appear on the body of the user, according to the dimension of the body of the user, without requiring the dimensions of the user to be altered to fit a pre-existing model.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is of a system and a method for fitting articles of clothing to an image of a user over the Internet. The image of the user is derived from a photograph or photographs of the user, from a videostream, and/or from additional information about the user. Critical points are taken from the image of the user, and are used to adjust the spatial configuration of the clothing. The critical points within the volume of the article of clothing are adjusted to match the critical points of the image of the body of the user, such that the spatial configuration of the article of clothing matches the configuration which would be adopted if the user was actually wearing the article of clothing. Thus, rather than first creating a model and then attempting to drape the image of the clothing over the model, the spatial configuration of the clothing alone is determined and adjusted to fit the body of each user.
The system and method of the present invention enable users in remote are as to try on the extensive collection of garments available from different vendors through the Internet. In addition, many different garments can be examined rapidly, thereby potentially increasing sales to the vendor and saving time for the user. The ability to examine an accurately depicted image of the garment as worn by the user also has the potential to minimize the number of articles of clothing returned to the vendor. Garments can also be fitted for someone other than the user, which is a particular advantage when buying garments for persons who have difficulty selecting their own garments, such as children. Thus, the system and method of the present invention combine the “shopping experience” of examining clothing for purchase with the convenience of electronic commerce.
The system and method described herein have the advantage of being relatively rapid, which is particularly important for electronic commerce through the Internet. Furthermore, the system and method described herein are substantially automatic. Thus, the system and method of the present invention is particularly suitable for electronic commerce through the Internet.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method for trying on garment through the Internet by a user, the steps of the method being performed according to software commands being executed by a data processor, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a picture of a body of the user through the Internet; (b) displaying the Web page with at least one garment; (c) selecting at least one garment from the Web page; (d) determining a garment spatial configuration of the at least one garment; (e) altering the garment spatial configuration according to the initial digital image of the user to form an altered garment spatial configuration; and (f) forming a garment image of the at least one garment according to the altered garment spatial configuration together with the image of the user; and (g) displaying the garment image through the Internet.
Preferably, the step of altering the garment spatial configuration according to the initial digital image of the user further comprises the steps of: (i) determining a plurality of critical user adjustment points of the initial digital image of the user; (ii) determining a plurality of garment adjustment points of the garment spatial configuration; (iii) adjusting the plurality of garment adjustment points according to the critical user adjustment points.
More preferably, the at least one garment is available in a plurality of sizes, the step of determining the plurality of garment adjustment points is determined according to one of the plurality of sizes and the step of adjusting the plurality of garment adjustment points according to the critical user adjustment points is performed according to a transform of the plurality of garment adjustment points between the plurality of sizes.
Optionally and most preferably, the step of determining the plurality of critical user adjustment points further comprises the step of translating the plurality of critical user adjustment points to absolute measurements according to an independent calibration function.
Preferably, the step of providing the initial digital image of the body of the user further comprises the step of removing a background of the initial digital image to form an initial image of the user. More preferably, the formed garment image may be further enhanced by adjusting the lighting of the garment image to compensate for changes in lighting between the garment image and the user image. Most preferably, the adjusted garment image is altered to change the color or the pattern of the fabric of the garment.
Also preferably, the step of displaying the Web page with at least one garment further comprises the steps of: (i) selecting a category of garments according to at least one garment characteristic; and (ii) displaying a plurality of garments within the category of garments fulfilling the at least one garment characteristic.
Hereinafter, the term “Web site” refers to at least one Web page. A “Web page” is a document written in a mark-up language, including but not limited to HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language), DHTML (dynamic HTML), VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and XML (Extended Mark-up Language), which is capable of being served by a Web server and viewed by a Web browser, as well as an image displayed on a television set received through a television channel. A Web server could be an HTTP server, for example. A Web browser is software which is capable of displaying a Web page through a GUI (graphical user interface) on a computer display screen or other display screen. Hereinafter the term “Internet” also includes a television channel.
Hereinafter, the term “computing platform” refers to a particular computer hardware system or to a particular software operatin
Chung Daniel J
Friedman Mark M.
Imaginarix Ltd.
Luu Matthew
LandOfFree
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