US-12620123-B2 - Guided material data collection

US12620123B2US 12620123 B2US12620123 B2US 12620123B2US-12620123-B2

Abstract

A material data collection system allows capturing of material data. For example, the material data collection system may include digital image data for materials. The material data collection system may ensure that captured digital image data is properly aligned, so that material data may be easily recalled for later use, while maintaining the proper alignment for the captured digital image. The material data collection system may include using a capture guide, to provide cues on how to orient a mobile device used with the material data collection system.

Inventors

Humberto Roa
Rammohan Akula
Fabrice Canonge
Nicholas Fjellberg Swerdlowe
Rohit Ghatol
Grif Von Holst

Assignees

CENTRIC SOFTWARE, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20210903

Claims (14)

1 . A method comprising: providing a capture guide device comprising a first border in a first direction and a second border in a second direction, wherein the first direction is transverse to the second direction, the first and second borders intersect at an origin point, a first ruled scale is formed on the first border, extending from the origin point along the first border, a second ruled scale is formed on the second border, extending from the origin point along the second border, a first alignment indicator, formed in an intersection region of the first and second border, a second alignment indicator, formed on the first border, distal from the intersection region, a third alignment indicator, formed on the second border, distal from the intersection region; providing a mobile device comprising a camera and an operation to capture a material sample, comprising: displaying on a screen of the mobile device a camera view of the material sample, held by the capture guide device, and the capture guide device as captured by the camera, and in the camera view, creating and displaying on the screen a first camera alignment indicator, a second camera alignment indicator, and a third camera alignment indicator; capturing an initial material sample image using an application executing on the mobile device; transforming the initial material sample image, based upon a bounded polygon formed using alignment indicators, to render an alignment corrected material sample image; from the alignment corrected material sample image, identifying a sample material swatch area, wherein the sample material swatch area includes at least one instance of a pattern found in the initial material sample image; and storing on the mobile device the sample material swatch area and the initial material sample image.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein alignment indicators comprise the bounded polygon that comprises an irregular polygon.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the set of alignment indicators included on the capture guide device forms a regular polygon.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the transforming the initial material sample image comprises compensating, based on a first match alignment indicator pair, for at least a lens aberration introduced by a lens of the mobile device when capturing the initial material sample image.
5 . The method of claim 1 comprising: before capturing the initial material sample image, using fasteners of the capture guide device to hold the sample material in place.
6 . The method of claim 1 comprising: performing a color calibration of the initial material sample image based on a color marker of the capture guide device.
7 . The method of claim 1 comprising: performing a straightening of the initial material sample image based on a straight line defined by a cut out portion of the capture guide device.
8 . The method of claim 1 comprising: performing a dimensions correction of dimensions of a cut out portion of the capture guide device as shown in the initial material sample image.
9 . The method of claim 1 comprising: performing a deskewing of the initial material sample image based on a polygon formed by corners of a cut out portion of the capture guide device.
10 . The method of claim 1 performing a color calibration comprising a comparison of two different markers on the capture guide that are of the same color.
11 . A method comprising: receiving a digital image of a real-world material sample; analyzing the digital image to determine at least two marker areas found on a capture guide included with the digital image; correcting, based on the at least two marker areas, a color of the digital image; and creating, after correcting the digital image, a cropped version of the digital image comprising: identifying at least one pattern of the real-world material sample, and including the at least one pattern of the real-world material sample in the cropped version of the digital image.
12 . The method of claim 11 wherein the at least two marker areas comprise at least three different colors and each of the at least two marker areas comprises the same colors.
13 . The method of claim 12 wherein the correcting the digital image is based on a comparison of values for the at least three colors in the digital image and values for the at least three colors received before the digital image was captured.
14 . The method of claim 13 wherein the at least three colors received before the digital image was captured comprises colors used during creation of the capture guide.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/447,949, filed Jun. 20, 2019, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,113,826 on Sep. 7, 2021, which claims the benefit of U.S. patent application 62/687,741, filed Jun. 20, 2018. These applications are incorporated by reference along with all other references cited in this application. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to digital imaging technology and, more specifically, a process that uses a handheld device and a capture guide to capture data of sample materials used to construct products such as clothing, jewelry, or other products. Designers, manufacturers, and others involved in product production get their inspiration for products when personally handling samples of materials. For example, a clothing designer may be presented with and inspired by a particular fabric they encounter in real-life, for use in creating a garment they are working on. However, it is often difficult for the designer to collaborate with others, since there is no way to easily capture and share information about the particular fabric. One way to do so is by keeping actual physical samples of materials in a library. When a particular sample is needed, the sample is found and shipped. This makes it difficult for designers to work collaboratively, especially with those whom may be at different locations. Further, while material manufacturers may provide basic information such as the color, pattern, and elements used to create a material, this information often lacks the specificity that a designer may need in the future to use a material in production. Since each manufacturer may also not adhere to the same nomenclature as other manufacturers to describe attributes of their materials, it is difficult for the designer to view, choose, and understand how different materials may look together or how they would work for a final product by using the manufacturer provided descriptions alone. For example, manufacturers may classify different blues differently than other manufactures or describe particular patterns differently. Some designers work with photos of materials, taken using a flatbed scanner. However, flatbed scanners are not portable, and require the user to go to the scanner in order to capture data. A flatbed scanner also takes poor images of materials with texture, like pebbled leather, which limits its usefulness. Therefore, there is a need to allow accurate and useful data collection about materials. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an implementation, a material data collection system allows capturing of material data. The material data collection system allows the conversion of real-world materials in a physical space, into a high-quality digital asset in the virtual space that may be searched, shared, and used by others. For example, the material data collection system may include digital image data for materials. The material may be any type of material whose information is to be stored in the material data collection system, such as fabric, knits, weaves, skins or hides, vinyl, plastics, composites, textiles, cotton, flax, wool, ramie, silk, denim, nylon, polyester, or many other materials. The material data collection system may ensure that captured digital image data is properly aligned, so that material data may be easily recalled for later use, while maintaining the proper alignment for the captured digital image. The material data collection system may include using a capture guide, to provide cues on how to orient a mobile device used with the material data collection system. An application installed on the mobile device may offer additional options to properly orient digital image data captured by the mobile device. This may provide various benefits. For example, mobile devices may vary from other based on its model, manufacturer, defects found in its parts, or other factors. This may result in aberrations that may affect digital image data captured by the material data collection system, such as a camera lens defect that produces as a pin-cushion effect, a fisheye effect, or other types of aberrations. The material data collection system may transform digital image data, to remove or reduce these undesirable effects. In another implementation, the material data collection system may assist a user to correctly hold or position a mobile device when capturing a digital image of a sample material. For example, before capturing the digital image, the mobile device may capture the orientation of a tabletop or other surface that the sample material is placed upon. When the digital image is being captured, the material data collection system may indicate to the user when the orientation of the camera is the same or similar to the orientation of the tabletop. The orientation of the camera is the same or similar to the orientation of the table top when, as measured by a accelerometer, gyroscope, or oth