Method for producing and customizing mass market items with a view to access to customized content

• US 10,425,542 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2016
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Digital Packaging, Co.
• Original Assignee: Digital Packaging, Co.
• Inventors: Pingeot, Gilles
• Primary Examiner(s): Pachol, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US15/780,729
• Publication Number:
  US 20180367682A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,023 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0281 Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0019 on souvenir-type products or the like, e.g. T-shirts or mugs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00251 with an apparatus for taking photographic images, e.g. a camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00267 with a viewing or projecting apparatus, e.g. for reading image information from a film H04N1/00262 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32149 Methods relating to embedding, encoding, decoding, detection or retrieval operations

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing a plurality of items (A) customized with visually coherent features, which includes the following steps: generating a plurality of unique decorative images each encoding a plurality of unique codes (Cx), each unique code 5 (Cx) being reconstructible through analysis of an image output from a digital camera of a communicating device that has captured a unique image (ICx), and each unique code (Cx) representing a unique address accessible, via a network, from said communicating device, and printing the unique decorative images on a plurality of respective items 10 (A) or on a plurality of substrates (Sx) intended to be attached to said plurality of individual or grouped items using a digital printing system. Items are thus mass-produced, making it possible for every item, without using an optical bar code or QR code, to access 15 content or a unique digital space, with customization possible.

Claims

1. A method for producing a plurality of customized consumer items (A), characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

generating a plurality of unique decorative images each respectively encoding a plurality of unique codes (Cx), each unique code (Cx) being reconstructable through analysis of image output from a digital camera of a communicating device that has captured a unique image (ICx), and each unique code (Cx) representing a unique address accessible, via a network, from said communicating device, and

printing the unique decorative images on a plurality of respective items (A) or on a plurality of substrates (Sx) intended to be attached to said plurality of individual or grouped items using a digital printing system,

wherein the plurality of unique images (ICx, I(i,j)) are generated by fragmenting a source decorative image (IS) to be visually coherent with one another,

wherein the source decorative image (IS) is a vectorial image.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the image analysis is done without being color-sensitive.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the plurality of unique images (ICiji′

j′

, (I(I,j), M(I′

,j′

))) are further generated by superposition on the decorative images (I(i,j)) derived from a fragmentation of the source decorative image (IS) from pattern images (M(i′

, j′

)) derived from a fragmentation of at least one source pattern image (MS, MS2).

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the or each source pattern image (MS, MS2) comprises simple geometric elements (Gk) respectively contained in the various zones of a grid (C(i,j)) used for the fragmentation.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the unique images are also generated from a mirror image (IS′

;

MS′

) of the or each source image (IS;

MS).

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the unique addresses comprise unique URL addresses for personal areas.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the unique codes (Cx) are associated uniquely with geometric and/or colorimetric characteristics of the unique images.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step for storing all of the addresses associated with the plurality of items for differentiated processing.

9. The method according to claim 1, applied to unique images printed on media intended to be applied on items such that the unique images are subject to deformation during this application, it comprises a prior step for developing a shared anamorphosis law between the printed unique images and the images as they appear, captured by a camera, on the items.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the step for developing an anamorphosis law comprises the sub-steps for printing a template (G) comprising remarkable elements on a template holder (SG), applying the template holder on the item (A) or group of items, taking a shot of the template after application, and determining movement data of the remarkable elements from the acquired image.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the step for developing an anamorphosis law comprises the sub-steps consisting of providing data for a virtual template including remarkable points, providing surface data of a three-dimensional volume of the item, developing data of three-dimensional coordinates of the remarkable points after digital processing for application of the virtual template on the surface of the three-dimensional volume of the item, providing data for at least one virtual sighting axis, and determining, from said data of three-dimensional coordinates and sighting axis data, by projection in a virtual image plane, displacement data of the remarkable points between the virtual template and the result of the projection.

12. A method for managing a personal area accessible by network from communicating equipment using a unique address, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

capturing a unique image on an item obtained using the method according to claim 1 using a camera (C) of the communicating equipment (EC),

decoding the unique address (Cx) encoded in the image from the capture,

in response to this decoding, accessing the personal area (EPx),

in the personal area, performing at least one action from among reading data and writing data.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step for accessing the personal area is made subject to the implementation of another capture of an identical or different coding image using the same communicating equipment.

14. The method according to claim 12, which comprises a step for accessing the personal area in write mode in response to a capture of a unique coding image using a first piece of communicating equipment, and a step for accessing the personal space at least one reading in response to a capture of the same unique coding image using a second piece of communicating equipment.

15. The method according to claim 12, which comprises steps for accessing a shared personal area in response to captures of the same unique coding image by different pieces of communicating equipment.

16. The method according to claim 12, carried out with items obtained using the method according to claim 11, further comprising a step for applying, in the communicating equipment, an inverse law of the shared anamorphosis law to the unique image captured by the camera (C), before the decoding step carried out by the communicating equipment.

17. The method according to claim 12, carried out with items obtained using the method according to claim 11, further comprising, at a server, a step for applying the anamorphosis law to a set of unique images to be applied on items and storing the resulting anamorphosis images, the decoding step being carried out at least partially at the server in the context of a decoding transaction between the communicating equipment having captured an image on an item or medium and said server.

18. The method according to claim 12, wherein the decoding of the image is done by an image analysis process that is not sensitive to colors.