US-12620171-B2 - Representations of foot features

Abstract

In some examples, a system receives an input three-dimensional (3D) representation of a foot, and analyzes the input 3D representation of the foot to identify first points corresponding to metatarsal bones of the foot. Based on locations of the first points corresponding to the metatarsal bones, the system identifies a second point corresponding to a heel of the foot, and generates, based on the first points and the second point, a representation of features of the foot.

Inventors

• Vijaykumar Nayak
• Melanie Michelle SHELTON
• Andy Yi-Chih Liao
• Jason M. KRAUS

Assignees

• PERIDOT PRINT LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20210614

Claims (18)

1. 1 . A method comprising: receiving, by a processor, an input three-dimensional (3D) representation of a foot; analyzing, by the processor, the input 3D representation of the foot to identify first points based on positions along a width of a widest portion of a front region of a sole of the foot, the first points corresponding to first and fifth metatarsal bones of the foot, the positions determined based on the width and respective parameter values; based on locations of the first points, identifying, by the processor, a second point corresponding to a heel of the foot; and generating, by the processor, based on the first points and the second point, a representation of features of the foot.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: based on the locations of the first points and a location of the second point, identifying, by the processor, an arch point on an arch of the foot, wherein the representation of the features of the foot is further generated based on the arch point.
3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the second point corresponds to a back heel part of the heel of the foot, and the method further comprises: identifying, by the processor, based on the location of the second point, a medial heel point corresponding to a medial heel part of the heel of the foot, wherein the arch point is further identified based on the medial heel point.
4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second point is identified based on a line that intersects a midpoint between the first points.
5. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the second point corresponds to a back heel part of the heel of the foot, and the method further comprises: identifying, by the processor, based on a location of the second point, further points corresponding to medial heel and lateral heel parts of the heel of the foot.
6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the further points are identified based on locations a specified distance away from the second point.
7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: re-orienting, by the processor, the input 3D representation such that lowest portions of the sole of the foot are on a ground plane, wherein the first points are on the ground plane.
8. 8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising: identifying, by the processor, a region between the first point corresponding to the first metatarsal bone and a medial heel point corresponding to a medial heel part of the heel of the foot, along a length axis of the foot; and identifying, by the processor, a highest elevation point of the sole of the foot within the region, an arch point of an arch of the foot comprising the highest elevation point.
9. 9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the region between the given first point corresponding to the first metatarsal bone and the medial heel point along the length axis of the foot is identified by: identifying a projected point aligned with the medial heel point along a width axis of the foot; defining a line between the projected point and the first point corresponding to the first metatarsal bone; and identifying a central portion of the line, the region being in the central portion.
10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: outputting, by the processor, the representation of the features of the foot.
11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: forming footwear customized for the foot based on the representation of the features of the foot.
12. 12 . A method comprising: receiving, by a processor, an input three-dimensional (3D) representation of a foot; analyzing, by the processor, the input 3D representation of the foot to identify first points corresponding to a first metatarsal bone and one or more other metatarsal bones of the foot; based on locations of the first points, identifying, by the processor, a second point corresponding to a medial heel portion of a heel of the foot; identifying, by the processor, a projected point aligned with the second point along a width axis of the foot; identifying, by the processor, a region within a central portion of a line between the first point corresponding to the first metatarsal bone and the projected point aligned with the second point along the width axis of the foot; identifying, by the processor, an arch point corresponding to an arch of the foot, as a highest elevation point of a sole of the foot within the region; and generating, by the processor, based on the first points, the second point, and the arch point, a representation of features of the foot.
13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: identifying a back heel point corresponding to a back heel portion of the heel of the foot, based on a line intersecting a midpoint between the first points.
14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising: identifying, by the processor, based on a location of the back heel point, a lateral heel point corresponding to a lateral heel portion of the heel of the foot.
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the lateral heel point is identified based on a location a specified distance away from the back heel point.
16. 16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: re-orienting, by the processor, the input 3D representation such that lowest portions of the sole of the foot are on a ground plane, wherein the first points are on the ground plane.
17. 17 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: outputting, by the processor, the representation of the features of the foot.
18. 18 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: forming footwear customized for the foot based on the representation of the features of the foot.

Description

BACKGROUND A human foot has various features that can be identified for various purposes. For example, features of a particular foot can be used for building footwear that is customized for the particular foot. As another example, features of a foot can be identified for performing a medical diagnosis. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Some implementations of the present disclosure are described with respect to the following figures. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an arrangement that includes a foot features representation generation engine according to some examples; FIG. 1A is a side view of a foot according to some examples; FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a process of generating a representation of features of a foot, according to some examples; FIG. 3 is a rear view of a foot used for identifying points according to some examples; FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a foot used for identifying points according to some examples; FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a storage medium storing machine-readable instructions according to some examples; FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a process according to some examples; and FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system according to some examples. Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the present disclosure, use of the term “a,” “an,” or “the” is intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Also, the term “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “have,” or “having” when used in this disclosure specifies the presence of the stated elements, but do not preclude the presence or addition of other elements. In some examples, the identification of features of a foot can be based on manual analysis by a human, such as a doctor, a foot specialist, or another person. The identification of features of the foot may be based on a manual assessment of an actual foot of a user, or alternatively, can be based on a manual analysis of a three-dimensional (3D) image of the foot that has been acquired by an image scanner. Such manual analysis of a foot to identify features can be time-consuming and may produce inaccurate results. For example, if the identification of the features of a foot is being performed as part of building footwear (e.g., customized orthotics, a customized shoe, etc.) for a user, inaccurate feature identification of a foot can lead to the footwear not properly fitting the foot of the user. Also, manual analysis of a foot to identify features may involve experts with special knowledge, such as doctors or foot specialists. Having to involve experts in identifying features for feet of users may slow down production of footwear, since the analyses performed by the experts can become a bottleneck in the footwear production process. In accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure, an automated engine is provided to analyze a 3D representation of a foot for generating an output representation of features of the foot. The features of the foot include heads of certain metatarsal bones (e.g., the first and fifth metatarsal bones) of the foot, portions of a heel of the foot, and a portion of an arch of the foot, as examples. A “feature” of a foot represented in the output representation can refer to any part of the foot of interest for a target purpose. The target purpose may include any of the following: building customized footwear (e.g., customized orthotics such as insoles, customized shoes, etc.) for a user, performing a medical diagnosis of an issue experienced by a patient, performing data analytics or machine learning, and so forth. FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example arrangement that includes a foot features representation generation engine 102 according to some examples of the present disclosure. As used here, an “engine” can refer to a hardware processing circuit, which can include any or some combination of a microprocessor, a core of a multi-core microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable integrated circuit, a programmable gate array, or another hardware processing circuit. Alternatively, an “engine” can refer to a combination of a hardware processing circuit and machine-readable instructions (software and/or firmware) executable on the hardware processing circuit. The foot features representation generation engine 102 receives an input 3D representation 104 of a foot. Although reference is made to “foot” in the singular sense, it is noted that techniques or mechanisms according to some implementations of the present disclosure can process input representations of multiple feet and