AUTOMATED COLOR PROCESSING AND SELECTION PLATFORM

• US 20150235389A1
• Filed: 04/30/2015
• Published: 08/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NM Nevada Trust
• Original Assignee: Stylyze Llc
• Inventors: Miller, Kristen A., Marcel, Teresa D., McManis, James D., Daniek, Maureen, Ruegamer, Laurie, Collette, Jon, Perrone, Lisa, Cincotta, Joe, Patton, Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 10,387,938 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0627 using item specifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers

Abstract

A color selection system is described herein that provides a facility for customers to receive color selection assistance for color-related buying decisions. The system divides color space into harmonious groups based on hue, chroma, and saturation whereby every major hue family is represented in each color group. This ensures that complete harmonious palettes can be created to align with every user'"'"'s color and product preferences, across all brands and product classes. The system also provides software for uploading digital images to profile particular products for color information. This assigns a harmonious color palette to each image. The system also enables product images to be profiled into the system so that users can find products that match their color preferences. The system provides a search facility that enables users to find colors, products, and styleboards that match their design concept, or dynamically build their design concept through their search queries.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method to create and share a styleboard, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a user to access an interface of the system for creating styleboards;

accessing a profile associated with the user;

receiving a request to create a new styleboard;

receiving a selection of input color information from the user;

selecting one or more colors that coordinate with the received input color information;

building a styleboard based on the received input color information and the selected one or more coordinating colors; and

displaying the built styleboard to the user,

wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the request to access the interface for creating styleboards comprises receiving a request form a user visiting a website that allows creating styleboards.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing a profile associated with the user comprises prompting the user to create a new profile if it is the user'"'"'s first visit to the interface.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a selection of input color information comprises the user selecting a color.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a selection of input color information comprises the user requesting to upload an image and automatically analyzing the image to pick input color information from the uploaded image.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting one or more colors that coordinate comprises determining the hue, chroma, and saturation values of the input color information and selecting a coordinating color group and corresponding coordinating colors using the determined values.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting one or more colors that coordinate comprises determining one or more frequently occurring colors in the input color information, and selecting one or more colors with a low delta-E with the frequently occurring colors as the colors that coordinate.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting one or more colors that coordinate comprises determining saturation of multiple matching color groups as represented by the selected colors from each group and selecting the color group having the highest saturation as a group from which the colors that coordinate will be selected.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting one or more colors that coordinate comprises determining multiple frequently occurring colors in the input color information, identifying multiple matching color groups, and determining the most frequently occurring matching color group from which the colors that coordinate will be selected.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after selecting one or more colors that coordinate, recommending one or more products that coordinate with the received input color information and selected coordinating colors.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein building the styleboard comprises creating a user interface that includes two or more colors across one axis, an image or other associated source of the colors, and one or more additional images or product modules that complete a design concept in a main area of the interface.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the built styleboard comprises displaying the styleboard alongside related styleboards that have similar colors or products to the built styleboard.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after displaying the built styleboard, receiving a request to share the styleboard with one or more other users.

14. A computer system for providing an automated color processing and selection platform, the system comprising:

a processor and memory configured to execute software instructions embodied within the following components;

a profile management component that stores one or more user profiles and associates one or more styleboards with each user;

a styleboard data store that is a storage facility for storing user-created styleboards and associated information;

a color input component that receives a starting point in the form of one or more input colors for finding one or more harmonious colors;

an image analysis component that provides color input by automatically analyzing an image uploaded to the system;

a color harmony component that selects one or more related colors based on the received starting point input colors that are harmonious with the starting point input colors;

a styleboard sharing component that allows a user to share the results produced by the color harmony component with other users of the system;

a product data store that stores a set of products and related color information that describes one or more colors evoked by each product so that users can navigate via a color search to related products and from products to related colors; and

a color search component that facilitates user-initiated color-based searches for styleboards, products, and other colors using one or more query colors.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the color input component receives the starting point based on a product selected by the user and color information related to the product provided by a vendor.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein the image analysis component receives one or more images from a product partner via a bulk data feed.

17. The system of claim 14 wherein the image analysis component produces a histogram of colors in the image and identifies the most frequently occurring colors in the image.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein the color harmony component receives multiple input colors and produces multiple output colors where all of the colors, both input and output, are harmonious as a group.

19. The system of claim 14 wherein the product data store includes links between products and styleboards that use those products, so that a user purchasing a product can view previously created styleboards with that product.

20. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a color-based search, wherein the instructions, upon execution, cause a processor to perform actions comprising:

receiving an input color that will comprise a query of a search to find one or more result items related by color;

performing a color-based search using the received input color to identify one or more items related by color to the received input color;

producing one or more search results that include items related by color to the received input color;

receiving a selection of a related item presented in the search results with which the user wants to interact further; and

navigating to an interface that provides further information about the related item to the user.