Natural language color communication and system interface

• US 20080007749A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Woolfe, Geoffrey J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,885,236 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/60 Colour correction or control H04N1/54 takes precedence

Abstract

A natural language color control system. The system includes a dictionary of ordinary language color terms, a working color space, wherein every portion of the working color space is mapped to at least one term in the color term dictionary, and an ordinary language command lexicon and syntax for use with the ordinary language color terms that correspond to transformations in the working color space. The dictionary of color terms may be created or chosen from pre-existing dictionaries. This system could be used to adjust colors in images as well as the meaning of verbally-defined color terms such as for searching a database.

Claims

1. A method for adjusting the color of an image, comprising:

receiving a document in an initial color space;

receiving a natural language command to adjust one or more selected colors of at least a portion of the document; and

adjusting the one or more selected colors of the document in the initial color space in response to the entered natural language command.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising

mapping the document into a working color space;

converting the natural language command into a transform in the working color space; and

applying the transform to the one or more selected colors of the at least a portion of the document in the working color space,

wherein the colors of the document in the initial color space are adjusted based upon the application of the transform in the working color space.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein converting the natural language command includes

parsing the command into a color range to be modified and a modification to be made to that color range.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the color range to be modified is determined with reference to a natural language color dictionary.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising

generating a mask that includes only those colors to be modified.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising parsing the modification made to the range of color into (1) a description of the color property to be modified, (2) a magnitude of color modification, and (3) direction of modification.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the modification to be made to the color is determined with reference to a command language lexicon and syntax.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein converting the natural language command into a transform in the working color space includes selecting a basic form of the transform from a transform library and tailoring it based upon the natural command.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting one or more of the selected colors includes adjusting one or more of the following properties:

lightness, darkness, colorfulness, chroma, saturation, contrast, hue, redness, greenness, yellowness, blueness, orange-ness, pink-ness, brown-ness, purple-ness, and grayness.

10. A natural language color control system, comprising:

a dictionary of ordinary language color terms, wherein every portion of a working color space is mapped to at least one term in the color term dictionary;

an ordinary language command lexicon and syntax for use with the ordinary language color terms that correspond to transformations in the working color space; and

a processor executing a color modification program that

parses a user entered ordinary language command related to an image into a color to be modified and a modification to be made to that color,

determines which portions of the image to modify by consulting the dictionary of ordinary language terms in view of the parsed command,

determines how to adjust the image with respect to the color to be modified by consulting the ordinary language command lexicon and syntax,

and adjusts the image.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a library of transformation functional forms, and wherein the processor consults the transformation library to select the appropriate form to use in response to a user'"'"'s natural language command.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the working color space is an L*a*b* space.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the color space comprises axes corresponding to luminance, chroma, and hue.

14. A natural language color control system, comprising:

an image input device;

a color mapping device;

a parser;

a transform generator;

a transform applicator; and

a modified image output unit.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a color mask generator.

16. A natural language color control method, comprising:

selecting a subject for color adjustment;

entering an ordinary language command to adjust a portion of the subject having a particular verbally defined color;

the command corresponding to a transformation in a color space;

wherein the portion of the subject is adjusted in response to the entered command.

17. A method for adjusting the color of an image, comprising:

receiving a document;

receiving a natural language command to adjust one or more properties of at least a portion of the document;

converting the natural language command into a transform;

applying the transform to the at least a portion of the document; and

adjusting the one or more properties of the document based upon application of the transform to the document.