Determining a color value of an article of fabric

• US 9,412,038 B1
• Filed: 02/03/2015
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Henkel AG & Co KGaA
• Original Assignee: Dial Corporation (Henkel AG & Co KGaA)
• Inventors: Koven, Stephen, Decker, Stephen E., Mack, Jordan
• Primary Examiner(s): MOTSINGER, SEAN T
• Application Number:
  US14/612,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20160224860A1
• Time in Patent Office: 553 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10024 Color image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30124 Fabrics; Textile; Paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/90 Determination of colour characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/56 relating to colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/60 relating to illumination properties, e.g. using a reflectance or lighting model

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for determining a color value of an article of fabric. Determining a color value of an article of fabric includes obtaining, from a mobile device, a digital image of an article of fabric with a calibration card, calculating a fabric luminosity value for the article of fabric from the digital image, comparing the fabric luminosity value with calibration luminosity values to create a comparison, and determining, based on the comparison, a color value of the article of fabric.

Claims

1. A method for determining a color value of an article of fabric, comprising:

obtaining, from a mobile device, a digital image of an article of fabric with a calibration card;

calculating a fabric luminosity value for the article of fabric from the digital image;

comparing the fabric luminosity value with calibration luminosity values to create a comparison;

determining, based on the comparison, a color value of the article of fabric; and

presenting, via a user interface (UI) of the mobile device, a recommendation to improve the color value of the article of fabric, the recommendation based on the determined color value of the article of fabric;

wherein the recommendation is based on comparing the color value of the article of fabric with a previous color value of the article of fabric stored in a database to determine if the color value has increased or decreased.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating the calibration luminosity values from the digital image.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein calculating the calibration luminosity values from the digital image comprises:

analyzing pixels of the digital image associated with a white region and a black region of the calibration card; and

determining, based on the pixels, the calibration luminosity values associated with the white region and the black region of the calibration card.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying the article of fabric.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the recommendation is based on metadata associated with the article of fabric, the metadata comprising a location of the article of fabric, a detergent used for washing the article of fabric, a washing machine type, settings of the washing machine used to wash the article of fabric, or combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the fabric luminosity value for the article of fabric from the digital image comprises:

determining a sample area of the digital image related to the article of fabric;

analyzing pixels of the sample area; and

determining, based on the pixels of the sample area, the fabric luminosity value.

7. A system for determining a color value of an article of fabric, the system comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer program code and communicatively coupled to the processor, the computer program code comprising;

an obtaining engine to obtain, from a mobile device, a digital image of an article of fabric with a calibration card;

an identifying engine to identify the article of fabric;

a calibration calculating engine to calculate calibration luminosity values from the digital image;

a fabric calculating engine to calculate a fabric luminosity value for the article of fabric from the digital image;

a comparing engine to compare the fabric luminosity value with the calibration luminosity values to create a comparison;

a determining engine to determine, based on the comparison, a color value of the article of fabric; and

a presenting engine to present, via a user interface (UI) of the mobile device, a recommendation to improve the color value of the article of fabric;

wherein the recommendation is based on comparing the color value of the article of fabric with a previous color value of the article of fabric stored in a database to determine if the color value has increased or decreased.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the calibration calculating engine calculates the calibration luminosity values from the digital image by:

analyzing pixels of the digital image associated with a white region and a black region of the calibration card; and

determining, based on the pixels, the calibration luminosity values associated with the white region and the black region of the calibration card.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the recommendation is based on metadata associated with the article of fabric, the metadata comprising a location of the article of fabric, a detergent used for washing the article of fabric, a washing machine type, settings of the washing machine used to wash the article of fabric, or combinations thereof.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the fabric calculating engine calculates the fabric luminosity value for the article of fabric from the digital image by:

determining a sample area of the digital image related to the article of fabric;

analyzing pixels of the sample area; and

determining, based on the pixels of the sample area, the fabric luminosity value.

11. A computer program product for determining a color value of an article of fabric, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium, the tangible computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising program instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to;

calculate calibration luminosity values from a digital image;

calculate a fabric luminosity value for an article of fabric from the digital image;

compare the fabric luminosity value with the calibration luminosity values to create a comparison;

determine, based on the comparison, a color value of the article of fabric; and

present, via a user interface (UI) of the mobile device, a recommendation to improve the color value of the article of fabric, wherein the recommendation is based on comparing the color value of the article of fabric with a previous color value of the article of fabric stored in a database to determine if the color value has increased or decreased.

12. The product of claim 11, further comprising computer readable program code comprising program instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to obtain, from a mobile device, the digital image of the article of fabric with the calibration card.

13. The product of claim 11, further comprising computer readable program code comprising program instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to identify the article of fabric.

14. The product of claim 11, wherein the recommendation is based on metadata associated with the article of fabric, the metadata comprising a location of the article of fabric, a detergent used for washing the article of fabric, a washing machine type, settings of the washing machine used to wash the article of fabric, or combinations thereof.

15. The product of claim 11, further comprising computer readable program code comprising program instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

analyze pixels of the digital image associated with a white region and a black region of the calibration card; and

determine, based on the pixels, the calibration luminosity values associated with the white region and the black region of the calibration card.

16. The product of claim 11, further comprising computer readable program code comprising program instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

determine a sample area of the digital image related to the article of fabric;

analyze pixels of the sample area; and

determine, based on the pixels of the sample area, the fabric luminosity value.