Portable wardrobe previewing device

• US 6,661,433 B1
• Filed: 11/03/2000
• Issued: 12/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gateway Incorporated (Acer, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Gateway Incorporated (Acer, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lee, Joseph H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao (Kevin)
• Application Number:
  US09/706,169
• Time in Patent Office: 1,131 Days
• Field of Search: 345/762, 345/765, 345/764, 235/378, 235/381, 235/383, 235/385
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 2007/195 Virtual display of clothes on the wearer by means of a mirror, screen or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/16 Cloth

Abstract

The present invention provides for a wardrobe previewing system that allows a person to preview how clothing items will look on her without having to put on the clothing items. The wardrobe previewing system includes a portable device, clothing tags for identifying clothing items, and a means for storing clothing item images. The portable device further includes a scanner capable of reading the clothing tags, a display, and an application software for enabling the portable device to display a preview of clothing items on the person. In addition, an image of the person is stored in the memory of the portable device. The person scans the clothing tag of a potential clothing item with the scanner, and retrieves a clothing item image corresponding to the scanned clothing item. The application software overlays the retrieved clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory of the portable device to produce a composite image. The application software then displays the composite image on the display of the portable device to give the person a preview of how the clothing item will look on her.

Claims

1. A method for previewing how a clothing item will look on a person using a portable device having a memory, a display, and a scanner, wherein the clothing item has an associated tag comprising a clothing item ID, and an image of the person is capable of being stored in the memory, comprising the steps of:

reading the clothing item ID from the tag of the clothing item with the scanner;

accessing a clothing item image based upon the read clothing item ID;

overlaying the retrieved clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a composite image; and

displaying the composite image on the display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the clothing item ID is a code capable of being scanned by said portable device and processed by an application running on said portable device to render the clothing item image.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

reading the clothing item ID from the tag of a second clothing item with the scanner;

accessing a second clothing item image based on the clothing item ID of the second clothing item;

overlaying the accessed second clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a second composite image; and

displaying the first and the second composite image on the display at the same time.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

reading the clothing item ID from the tag of a second clothing item with the scanner;

accessing a second clothing item image based on the clothing item ID of the second clothing item;

overlaying the accessed first and second clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a second composite image; and

displaying the second composite image on the display.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein more than one image of the person is stored the memory, and the method further comprises the steps of:

giving the person the option of selecting one of the images of the person stored in the memory; and

overlaying the retrieved clothing item image onto the image of the person selected by the person to produce the composite image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of retrieving a clothing item image comprises the steps of:

establishing a wireless link between the portable device and a database;

transmitting the read clothing ID item from the portable device to the database;

accessing the clothing item image from the database based on the transmitted clothing item ID; and

transmitting the accessed clothing item image from the database to the portable device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the wireless link is a wireless Internet link.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the clothing item ID specifies a URL of a file in the database containing the clothing item image.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

recognizing whether or not a clothing item of the read tag is available in different colors; and

when it is recognized that the clothing item is available in different colors, executing the steps of;

displaying the different colors in which the clothing item is available on the display;

giving the person the option of selecting one of the different colors on the display;

transmitting the color selected by the person from the portable device to the database;

retrieving a clothing item image in the selected color from the database;

transmitting the clothing item image in the selected color from the database to the portable device; and

overlaying the retrieved clothing item image in the selected color onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce the composite image.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of retrieving a clothing item image comprises the steps of:

establishing a wireless link between the portable device and an access port;

establishing a link between the access port and a database;

transmitting the read clothing ID item from the portable device to the database through the access port;

retrieving a clothing item image from the database based on the transmitted clothing item ID; and

transmitting the retrieved clothing item image from the database to the portable device through the access port.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the link between the access port and the database is a wireline link.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

displaying the image of the person stored in the memory on the display;

enabling the person to mark off different body parts on the image of the person;

storing coordinates of the body parts marked off by the person into the memory; and

adjusting proportions of the accessed clothing item image according to the coordinates of the body parts marked off by the person.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

reading the clothing item image from the tag of a second clothing item with the scanner;

overlaying the read first and second clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a second composite image; and

displaying the second composite image on the display.

14. A method for previewing how a clothing item will look on a person using a portable device having a memory, a display, and a scanner, wherein an image of the clothing item is embedded in a tag and an image of the person is stored in the memory, comprising the steps of:

accessing the clothing item image from the tag of one of the clothing items by reading the tag with the scanner;

overlaying the read clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a composite image; and

displaying the composite image on the display.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a coded representation of the clothing item image is embedded in the tag as a pattern of dots.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

reading the clothing item from the tag of a second clothing item with the scanner;

overlaying the read second clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a second composite image; and

displaying the first and the second composite image on the display at the same time.

17. A computer program product for use in a portable device having a memory, a display, and a scanner, wherein an image of a person is stored in the memory, comprising:

an instruction for reading a clothing item ID from a clothing item tag with the scanner;

an instruction for accessing a clothing item image based on the read clothing item ID;

an instruction for overlaying the retrieved clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a composite image; and

an instruction for displaying the composite image on the display.

18. The computer instruction product of claim 17, further comprising:

an instruction for reading a clothing item ID from a second clothing item tag with the scanner;

an instruction for accessing a second clothing item image based on the clothing item ID of the second clothing item tag;

an instruction for overlaying the accessed second clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a second composite image; and

an instruction for displaying the first and the second composite image on the display at the same time.

19. The computer instruction product of claim 17, further comprising:

an instruction for reading a clothing item ID from a second clothing item tag with the scanner;

an instruction for accessing a second clothing item image based on the clothing item ID of the second clothing item tag;

an instruction for overlaying the accessed first and second clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a second composite image; and

an instruction for displaying the second composite image on the display.

20. The computer instruction product of claim 17, wherein more than one image of the person is stored the memory, and the computer instruction product further comprises:

an instruction for giving the person the option of selecting one of the images of the person stored in memory; and

an instruction for overlaying the accessed clothing item image onto the image of the person selected by the person to produce the composite image.

21. A computer instruction product for use in a portable device having a memory, a display, and a scanner, wherein an image of a person is stored the memory, comprising the steps of:

an instruction for reading and rendering a clothing item image embedded in a clothing item tag with the scanner;

an instruction for overlaying the read clothing item image onto the image of the person stored in the memory to produce a composite image; and

an instruction for displaying the composite image on the display.

22. The computer instruction product of claim 21, wherein the clothing item image is embedded in the clothing item tag as a pattern of dots, and the computer instruction product further comprises an instruction for converting the pattern of dots into the clothing item image.