SURFACE APPEARANCE SIMULATION

• US 20080158239A1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: X-Rite Incorporated (Danaher Corporation)
• Original Assignee: X-Rite Incorporated (Danaher Corporation)
• Inventors: Lamy, Francis, Nisper, Jon K.
• Granted Patent: US 9,767,599 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/581
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/04 Texture mapping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/50 Lighting effects
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/001 using specific devices not provided for in groups G09G3/02 - G09G3/36, e.g. using an intermediate record carrier such as a film slide; Projection systems; Display of non-alphanumerical information, solely or in combination with alphanumerical information, e.g. digital display on projected diapositive as background slide projectors per se G03B23/00 = 42 HP
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T

Abstract

A processor-based device for displaying simulated or modeled surface appearances based on surface color and surface texture data stored in a data storage. By selecting different combinations of color and texture, different surface appearances may be modeled and displayed. Also, the device may comprise an orientation sensor. Accordingly, the device may additionally consider the orientation of the device when generating surface appearances.

Claims

1. A device for displaying a modeled surface appearance, the device comprising:

a data storage that stores data describing a plurality of surface colors and a plurality of surface textures; and

a processor in communication with the data storage and programmed to generate an appearance of the surface considering data describing at least one of the surface textures and data describing at least one of the surface colors.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the data storage stores data describing a plurality of average Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Functions (BRDF'"'"'s), and wherein the processor is further programmed to generate the surface appearance considering the average BRDF'"'"'s.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the data describing the plurality of average BRDF'"'"'s comprises the data describing a plurality of surface colors.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to generate the appearance of the surface considering at least one environmental factor.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the at least one environmental factor comprises at least one factor selected from the group consisting of Lux level, ambient spectral content, dominant ambient illumination direction, and vantage point position.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the processor is farther programed to regenerate the appearance of the surface in response to a change in the at least one environmental factor.

7. The device of claim 1, farther comprising at least one input device in communication with the processor, wherein the input device is selected from the group consisting of a directional switch, a thumb wheel, and a touch screen overlay.

8. The device of claim 1, farther comprising a display configured to render the appearance of the surface.

9. The device of claim 8, further comprising an enclosure housing the data storage, the processor and the display.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the display is selected from the group consisting of a liquid crystal display (LCD);

an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display; and

an electronic ink display.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of surface colors comprise colors selected from a color library.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the color library is selected from the group consisting of the MUNSELL library, the PANTONE library and the NCS library.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the data describing the plurality of surface colors comprises at least one of the group consisting of tristimulus data and spectral curve data.

14. The device of claim 1, further comprising a texture plaque configured to reproduce a texture of the surface.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to map the appearance of the surface to a three dimensional shape.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein the display is flexible.

17. The device of claim 1, wherein the display is translucent.

18. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to connect to a second device and cause a display of the second device to render the appearance of the surface.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the processor and data storage are contained within an enclosure configured to be received by a peripheral device bus of the second device.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured to connect to the second device via a connection selected from the group consisting of a universal serial bus (USB) connection and a wireless connection.

21. The device of claim 18, wherein the second device is a device selected from the group consisting of a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant, a television and a mobile phone.

22. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is also programed to select a second surface appearance considering the first surface appearance.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein the second surface appearance comprises at least one of a color of the first surface appearance, and a color complementary to the color of the surface appearance.

24. A device for displaying a modeled appearance of a surface, the device comprising:

an orientation sensor;

a data storage that stores data describing a plurality of surface colors and a plurality of surface textures; and

a processor in communication with the data storage and the orientation sensor and programmed to;

derive an orientation of the device from an output of the orientation sensor; and

generate an appearance of the surface considering at least one of the plurality of surface colors, at least one of the plurality of surface textures, and the orientation of the device.

25. The device of claim 24, further comprising an image sensor, wherein the processor is further programmed to derive an ambient illumination condition from an image generated by the image sensor.

26. The device of claim 24, wherein the ambient illumination condition includes a condition selected from the group consisting of Lux level, ambient spectral content and dominant illumination direction.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein the processor is further programmed to regenerate the appearance of the surface in response to a change in the ambient illumination condition.

28. The device of claim 24, further comprising an image sensor, wherein the processor is further programmed to derive a vantage point location from an image generated by the image sensor.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein deriving a vantage point location comprises locating an eye in the image.

30. The device of claim 28, wherein the processor is farther configured to regenerate the appearance of the surface in response to a change in the vantage point location.

31. The device of claim 24, wherein the processor is further programmed to regenerate the appearance of the surface in response to a change in the output of the orientation sensor.

32. The device of claim 24, further comprising a display configured to render the appearance of the surface.

33. The device of claim 24, further comprising an enclosure housing the data storage, the processor and the display.

34. A device for displaying a modeled appearance of a surface, the device comprising:

a data storage that stores parameters describing a plurality of surface types; and

a processor in communication with the data storage and programmed to;

generate a plurality of Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Functions (BRDF'"'"'s) considering at least one of the parameters, wherein each of the plurality of BRDF'"'"'s corresponds to one of a plurality of points positioned on the surface;

solve the plurality of BRDF'"'"'s for a given set of environmental conditions; and

map the results of solving the plurality of BRDF'"'"'s to a display.

35. The device of claim 34, further comprising an orientation sensor, wherein the set of environmental conditions comprise at least one value derived from an output of the orientation sensor.

36. A device for displaying a modeled appearance of a surface, the device comprising:

a processor programmed to;

communicate with a surface measurement device, the surface measurement device configured to measure at least one property of the surface; and

generate an appearance of the surface considering the at least one property of the surface and at least one environmental factor; and

a data storage configured to store the at least one property of the surface.

37. The device of claim 36, wherein the surface measurement device comprises at least one device selected from the group consisting of a spectrophotometer, a colorimeter, a flatbed scanner, a laser surface scanner, a simple camera, a hyperspectral cameras, and an artificial retina,

38. The device of claim 36, further comprising the surface measurement device.

39. The device of claim 36 further comprising an orientation sensor, and wherein the at least one environmental condition comprises at least one value derived from an output of the orientation sensor.

40. The device of claim 36, wherein the processor is also programmed to select a second surface appearance considering the first surface appearance.

41. The device of claim 40, wherein the second surface appearance comprises at least one of a color of the first surface appearance, and a color complementary to the color of the surface appearance.