Automated Color Selection Method and Apparatus

• US 20110018896A1
• Filed: 10/30/2009
• Published: 01/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BEHR Process Corporation (Masco Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEHR Process Corporation (Masco Corporation)
• Inventors: Reynolds, Damien, Buzyn, John, Milsom, Doug, Webb, Marc, Une, Donna, Irizarry, Bernadette
• Granted Patent: US 8,319,788 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/594
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/001 Texturing; Colouring; Generation of texture or colour inpainting G06T5/77

Abstract

An automated method and apparatus for providing color selection capability to a user wherein a first display is generated on a display apparatus of an array of color family groups disposed in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns. Upon selection of a particular color family group, a second display is generated comprising an enlarged display of a particular selected color family group wherein, as the second display is generated, the array of color family groups of the first display dissolves while the particular selected color family group moves into a central enlarged position and a miniature version of the entire array of color family groups is displayed in a thumbnail navigation frame, located in a corner of the display screen. Various elements of a color family such as color stripe cards, color style cards, and sample chips may be selected and caused to appear via animation in a central enlarged position in the display.

Claims

1. An automated method for providing color selection capability to a user comprising:

employing one or more computers to perform a plurality of operations in conjunction with a computer readable medium or media and a computer controlled display apparatus, the operations comprising;

generating a first display on said display apparatus comprising an array of color family groups displayed in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each color family group comprising a plurality of rows, each row comprising a plurality of color stripe cards, said first display enabling selection of a particular color family for display on said display apparatus;

generating a second display on said display apparatus comprising an enlarged display of a particular selected color family in response to selection of the particular color family group for display; and

wherein, as said second display is generated, said array of color family groups dissolves while the particular selected color family moves into a central enlarged position, and wherein a miniature version of said array of color family groups is displayed in a thumbnail navigation frame in the second display, said second display further comprising a link enabling return to the first display.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said array of color family groups further includes a representation of a color style card, said color style card comprising a link to a third display, said operations further comprising generating said third display in response to selection of said link, wherein, during generation of said third display on said display apparatus, the color style card moves from a margin of the third display and enlarges to a center position in the third display, while the display of the color family containing the color style card moves to a margin of the third display and gradually decreases in size to a miniature version positioned adjacent an edge of the third display.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein touching the color style card with a cursor on said second display causes the color style card to be surrounded by a highlighting border or frame.

4. The method off claim 1, wherein touching of the selected color family by the cursor on said first display causes said color family to be surrounded by a highlighting border or frame.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein selecting the color style card on the third display causes the style card to open via animation into a fourth display comprising three panels, a first panel of the style card opening first and a second panel thereafter opening to reveal a center panel, wherein each of the first, second, and center panel(s) displays a room or other project image with respective colors of the image displayed in a color palette beneath the image.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein clicking on one of the first, second, or center panels causes a color summary page to move into the display from an edge of the fourth display.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein, by clicking on a “

page”

icon, one of the first, second or center panels may be selected and displayed alone by itself on the display apparatus and wherein the unselected panels dissolve, while the selected panel moves and enlarges to front and center of the display.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein said operations further comprise generating a fifth display in response to selection of a color card of a family group [by clicking on its reduced-size frame in the margin of the display or by clicking on the same card in the full size view of the first display] wherein, when selected [from the reduced size frame], the color card moves from its initial position to the center of the display while simultaneously enlarging in size.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein a highlighting border appears around the card in the reduced size frame.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein each color card contains three color stripes, each color stripe displaying a different color, and wherein one or more directional arrows on said display enable navigation to adjacent stripe cards.

11. The method of claim 6 wherein clicking on the color stripe card causes a color summary block to move into the fourth display from an edge, the color summary block enabling selection of colors for addition to a stored list of color samples, coordination with other colors, or on-line ordering of color samples.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said second display further enables selection of one of plurality of saturated color chips from a color family, wherein, when a saturated color chip is selected, it is framed by a white border in a reduced-size frame displayed at the left margin of the display and wherein said operations further comprise generation of a sixth display during which the selected saturated color chip moves to a central position in the display while simultaneously enlarging.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein one or more navigational arrows are provided adjacent to the enlarged saturated color chip to enable selection and display of adjacent color chips or color cards.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the second display includes a link, which, when selected, causes the color family display to move to the margin of the display and dissolve as the array of color family groups enlarges to occupy the majority of the full screen.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the array of color family groups includes twenty-one color family groups arranged in three rows and seven columns, a plurality of the color family groups including a pure color row, a muted color row, and a shaded color row, the seven columns including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and neutrals/black columns.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein each of a plurality of the color family groups is constructed in the same manner, each of said plurality of color family groups having three card rows, the first card row including a style card followed by a number of stripe cards, the second row including a white color header card followed by a plurality of white color cards followed by a plurality of color stripe cards, and the third row including a succession of color cards each having a selected saturated color displayed thereon.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said second display includes four buttons, one on each side of the color family to provide links to adjacent color families.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein when a particular color family is touched by a cursor on said first display, a highlighting border appears around it.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the array of color family groups dissolves, disappears, and then reappears in said thumbnail navigational frame.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the selected color family is highlighted in the thumbnail navigation frame of said second display.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein said second display further enables selecting other color families on the thumbnail navigation frame for individual display on said display apparatus.

22. Apparatus for providing color selection capability comprising:

a computer controlled display apparatus at a remote terminal; and

at least one server, the server cooperating with the remote terminal to enable generation of a plurality of displays on the display apparatus, the displays comprising;

a first display comprising an array of color family groups displayed in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each color family group comprising a plurality of rows, each row comprising a plurality of color stripe cards, the first display enabling selection of a particular color family for display on the display apparatus; and

a second display comprising an enlarged display of a particular selected color family, said second display being generated in response to selection of the particular color family group for display,

wherein, as the second display is generated, the array of color family groups dissolves while the particular selected color family moves into a central enlarged position, and wherein a miniature version of the array of color family groups is displayed in a thumbnail navigation frame in the second display, the second display further comprising a link enabling return to the first display.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the array of color family groups further includes a representation of a color style card and wherein the plurality of displays further comprise a third display wherein, during generation of the third display, the color style card moves from a margin of the third display and enlarges to a center position in the third display, while the display of the color family containing the color style card moves to a margin of the third display and gradually decreases in size to a miniature version positioned adjacent an edge of the third display.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein touching the color style card with a cursor on said second display causes the color style card to be surrounded by a highlighting border or frame.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein touching of the selected color family by the cursor on said first display causes the selected color family to be surounded by a highlighting border or frame.

26. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein selecting the color style card on the third display causes the style card to open via animation into a fourth display comprising three panels, a first panel of the style card opening first and a second panel thereafter opening to reveal a center panel, wherein each of the first, second, and center panels displays a room or other project image with respective colors of the image displayed in a color palette beneath the image.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein clicking on one of the first, second, or center panels causes a color summary page to move into the display from an edge of the fourth display.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein said plurality of displays further comprise a fifth display generated in response to selection of a color card of a color family group by clicking on the color card in a reduced-size frame in the margin of the display or by clicking on the same card in the full size view of the first display, wherein, when selected from the reduced size frame, the color card moves from its initial position to the center of the display while simultaneously enlarging in size.

29. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the second display further enables selection of one of plurality of saturated color chips from a color family, wherein, when a saturated color chip is selected, it is framed by a white border in a reduced-size frame displayed at the left margin of the display and wherein said displays further comprise a sixth display during generation of which the selected saturated color chip moves to a central position in the display while simultaneously enlarging.

30. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the array of color family groups includes twenty-one color family groups arranged in three rows and seven columns, a plurality of the color family groups including a pure color row, a muted color row, and a shaded color row, the seven columns including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and neutrals/black columns.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein each of a plurality of the color family groups is constructed in the same manner, each of said plurality of color family groups having three card rows, the first card row including a style card followed by a number of stripe cards, the second row including a white color header card followed by a plurality of white color cards followed by a plurality of color stripe cards, and the third row including a succession of color cards each having a selected saturated color displayed thereon.

32. Computer software comprising a computer usable medium or media having computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed by one or more computers to implement a method comprising:

generating a first display on a display apparatus comprising an array of color family groups displayed in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each color family group comprising a plurality of rows, each row comprising a plurality of color stripe cards, said first display enabling selection of a particular color family for display on said display apparatus;

generating a second display on the display apparatus comprising an enlarged display of a particular selected color family in response to selection of the particular color family group for display; and

wherein, as the second display is generated, the array of color family groups dissolves while the particular selected color family moves into a central enlarged position, and wherein a miniature version of the array of color family groups is displayed in a thumbnail navigation frame in the second display, the second display further comprising a link enabling return to the first display.

33. The computer software of claim 32 wherein the array of color family groups further includes a representation of a color style card, the color style card comprising a link to a third display, and wherein said method further comprises generating the third display in response to selection of said link, wherein, during generation of the third display on the display apparatus, the color style card moves from a margin of the third display and enlarges to a center position in the third display, while the display of the color family containing the color style card moves to a margin of the third display and gradually decreases in size to a miniature version positioned adjacent an edge of the third display.

34. The computer software of claim 33 wherein touching the color style card with a cursor on the second display causes the color style card to be surrounded by a highlighting border or frame.

35. The computer software of claim 32, wherein touching of the selected color family by the cursor on said first display causes the selected color family to be surrounded by a highlighting border or frame.

36. The computer software of claim 33 wherein selecting the color style card on the third display causes the style card to open via animation into a fourth display comprising three panels, a first panel of the style card opening first and a second panel thereafter opening to reveal a center panel, wherein each of the first, second, and center panel(s) displays a room or other project image with respective colors of the image displayed in a color palette beneath the image.

37. The computer software of claim 36 wherein clicking on one of the first, second, or center panels causes a color summary page to move into the display from an edge of the fourth display.

38. The computer software of claim 36 wherein, by clicking on a “

page”

icon, one of the first, second or center panels may be selected and displayed alone by itself on the display apparatus and wherein the unselected panels dissolve, while the selected panel moves and enlarges to front and center of the display.

39. The computer software of claim 36 wherein said method further comprises generating a fifth display in response to selection of a color card of a family group by clicking on its reduced-size frame in the margin of the display or by clicking on the same card in the full size view of the first display wherein, when selected from the reduced size frame, the color card moves from its initial position to the center of the display while simultaneously enlarging in size.

40. The computer software of claim 39 wherein a highlighting border appears around the selected card in the reduced size frame.

41. The computer software of claim 39 wherein each color card contains three color stripes, each color stripe displaying a different color, and wherein one or more directional arrows on said display enable navigation to adjacent stripe cards.

42. The computer software of claim 37 wherein clicking on the color stripe card causes a color summary block to move into the fourth display from an edge thereof, the color summary block enabling selection of colors for addition to a stored list of color samples, coordination with other colors, or on-line ordering of color samples.

43. The computer software of claim 32 wherein said second display further enables selection of one of plurality of saturated color chips from a color family, wherein, when a saturated color chip is selected, it is framed by a white border in a reduced-size frame displayed at a margin of the display and wherein said method further comprises generating of a sixth display during generation of which the selected saturated color chip moves to a central position in the display while simultaneously enlarging.

44. The computer software of claim 43 wherein one or more navigational arrows are provided adjacent the enlarged saturated color chip to enable selection and display of adjacent color chips or color cards.

45. The computer software of claim 32 wherein the second display includes a link, which, when selected, causes the color family display to move to the margin of the display and dissolve as the array of color family groups enlarges to occupy the full screen.

46. The computer software of claim 32 wherein the array of color family groups includes twenty-one color family groups arranged in three rows and seven columns, a plurality of the color family groups including a pure color row, a muted color row, and a shaded color row, the seven columns including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and neutrals/black columns.

47. The computer software of claim 46 wherein each of a plurality of the color family groups is constructed in the same manner, each of said plurality of color family groups having three card rows, the first card row including a style card followed by a number of stripe cards, the second row including a white color header card followed by a plurality of white color cards followed by a plurality of color stripe cards, and the third row including a succession of color cards each having a selected saturated color displayed thereon.

48. The computer software of claim 32 wherein the second display includes four buttons, one on each side of the color family to provide links to adjacent color families.

49. The computer software of claim 32 wherein when a particular color family is touched by a cursor on the first display, a highlighting border appears around it.

50. The computer software of claim 32 wherein the array of color family groups dissolves, disappears, and then reappears in said thumbnail navigational frame.

51. The computer software of claim 32 wherein the selected color family is highlighted in the thumbnail navigation frame of the second display.

52. The computer software of claim 32 wherein the second display further enables selecting other color families on the thumbnail navigation frame for individual display on said display apparatus.