Merging private images for gifting

• US 7,917,397 B1
• Filed: 08/14/2006
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Jarbridge Incorporated
• Inventors: Giannini, Robert U., Parkinson, Joseph L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Airapetian, Mila
• Application Number:
  US11/503,848
• Time in Patent Office: 1,688 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27
• US Class Current: 705/26.8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

An e-commerce method involving on-line viewing of commercial article through a linking node for virtual merging on another structure. The method includes providing a host site accessible to an on-line viewer (shopper) and web-linkable to a retailer having an apparel site. These articles can be apparel from retail stores for viewing over the web, and the on-line viewer is linked to the host site. The shopper provides a personal-body structure, such as a photograph of a person captured in system memory, which is stored at the shopper'"'"'s PC. Alternatively, the personal-body structure can be stored at the host site. Using the host site, the shopper is linked to the retailer'"'"'s apparel site and images of articles are passed from that site to the host site. The images of articles are merged with the personal-body structure for view by the shopper.

Claims

1. A method for previewing an article on a personal-body structure, comprising:

providing a host site accessible to an on-line shopping PC operated by an on-line shopper and web-linking the on-line shopping PC to a plurality of article-provider sites, the article provider sites having images of commercial articles for view via the web;

linking the on-line shopping PC to the host site;

providing to the host site, from the on-line shopping PC, information for dressing a personal-body structure that is stored at the on-line shopping PC;

using the host site, linking the on-line shopping PC to a set of retailers including different article-provider sites and passing respective visual images of commercial articles from the set of article-provider sites to the host site for view at the on-line shopping PC by the on-line shopper;

at the on-line shopping PC, merging images of the commercial articles and the personal-body structure by forming a composite image including a visual representation of the commercial articles on the personal-body structure;

displaying the composite image.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the images of the commercial articles selected by the on-line shopper is stored at the host site with the personal-body structure at least partially covered by said at least one of the images of the commercial articles.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least partially covered personal-body structure is stored using a limited access protocol provided by the on-line shopper.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the limited access protocol includes a password.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the on-line shopper uses the password to access and to view at least one of the stored images of the commercial articles and the at least partially covered personal-body structure.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising purchasing at least one of the commercial articles after displaying the composite image.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the commercial articles is apparel.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the commercial articles represents a portion of the personal-body structure to be modified.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said at least one commercial article is provided by cosmetic surgery.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said at least one commercial article is provided by facial cosmetic surgery.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the facial cosmetic surgery is supplied by one article-provided site and at least a second commercial article is provided by cosmetic surgery and the second commercial article is supplied by a different article-provider site.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the personal-body structure is sent from the host site to the article-provider, the article provider then forms a composite image of the personal-body-structure after the cosmetic surgery and then sends the composite image back to the host site.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the composite image includes apparel.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal-body structure represents attributes of a recipient to be gifted by the on-line shopper.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two of the visual images of the commercial articles passed from the set of article-provider sites to the host site are of different colors and the host site is adapted to indicate whether the colored commercial articles are similar.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting an image of a background setting prior to generating the composite image, and wherein the composite image it formed form the personal-body structure, the commercial articles, and the image of the background setting.

17. A computer-based system for previewing an article on a personal-body structure, the article provided in response to a selection from articles provided by a set of retailers, comprising:

an on-line shopping PC for operation by an on-line shopper, and a host site accessible to the on-line shopping PC and to web-link the on-line shopping PC to a plurality of article-provider sites, the article provider sites having images of commercial articles for view via the web, wherein the host site is adapted to link the on-line shopping PC to the host site;

a data processing arrangement, including memory, at the on-line shopping PC for storing information representing a personal-body structure and for providing to the host site, from the on-line shopping PC, information for dressing the personal-body structure;

wherein the host site is used to link the on-line shopping PC to the set of retailers, including different article-provider sites, and to pass respective visual images of commercial articles from the set of article-provider sites to the host site for view at the on-line shopping PC by the on-line shopper;

and wherein the on-line shopping PC is adapted to merge images of the commercial articles and the personal-body structure by forming a composite image including a visual representation of the commercial articles on the personal-body structure, and is adapted to display the composite image.