Color-based toy identification system

A toy identification system comprising a detection system configured to capture image data, the detection system being configured to:

• locate a marker within image data based on one or more pre-known and optically detectable characteristics of the marker, the image data comprising data that represents a toy and data that represents the marker;
• obtain one or more marker samples, each of the one or more marker samples comprising a measured value of a color metric of the marker;
• determine a color metric offset based on the one or more marker samples and a known value of the color metric of the marker;
• obtain one or more toy samples, each of the one or more toy samples comprising a measured value of the color metric of the toy;
• apply the determined color metric offset to at least one of the toy samples to determine a corrected color metric of the toy;
• and
• identify the toy as a particular one of a plurality of pre-identified toys based on the corrected color metric of the toy.

A method of identifying a toy, the method comprising:

• determining that a toy is in a toy region of a play surface;
• directing a user to position the toy relative to a detection system such that a first portion of the toy is in the field of view of an optical sensor of the detection system;
• obtaining one or more first portion samples, each of the one or more first portion samples comprising a measured value of a color metric of the first portion of the toy;
• determining a color metric offset based on the one or more first portion samples and a known value of the color metric of the first portion of the toy;
• obtaining one or more toy samples, each of the one or more toy samples comprising a measured value of the color metric of the toy in a second portion of the toy, the second portion of the toy being spatially distinct from the first portion of the toy and being a different color than the first portion;
• applying the determined color metric offset to at least one of the toy samples to determine a corrected color metric of the toy;
• and
• identifying the toy as a particular one of a plurality of pre-identified toys based on the corrected color metric of the toy.