Previewing system and method

A method for previewing a pair of sunglasses to be worn by a person, the method comprising:

• providing a first image to an input device at a first location, the first image including at least a face portion of the person;
• transmitting data of the first image to a server computer at a second location;
• selecting a second image from an electronic database of images on or accessible to the server computer, the second image comprising an image of a pair of sunglasses to be worn on the portion of the person in the first image;
• generating data of a composite image from the data of the first image and data of the second image with the server computer, the composite image including the pair of sunglasses worn on the portion of the person;
• displaying the composite image on an output device at the first location;
• and
• displaying a shaded image, wherein a shade of the shaded image corresponds to a shade seen by a person wearing the pair of sunglasses.

A method for previewing an article, the method comprising:

• providing data of a first image of at least a portion of an intended recipient of the article to a server computer, the server computer being linked to different article-provider computer sites respectively having different articles for viewing;
• selecting a second image from an electronic database of images, the second image comprising an image of one of the articles to be worn on the portion of the intended recipient in the first image;
• generating data of a composite image illustrating the article being worn on said portion from the data of the first image and data of the second image with the server computer;
• transmitting the data of the composite image from the server computer to a client computer;
• and
• displaying the composite image on an output device in communication with the client computer.

A system for previewing an accessory, the system comprising:

• an input device for receiving a first image, wherein the first image includes an image of at least a portion of a person;
• a client computer operatively coupled to the input device;
• a server computer including a first computer program for selecting data of a second image from an electronic database of images, the server computer being linked to different accessory-provider computer sites respectively having different accessories for viewing, the second image comprising an image of one of the accessories to be worn on the portion of the person in the first image, and a second computer program for generating data of a composite image illustrating the accessory being worn on said portion of a person from data of the first image and data of the second image, wherein the server computer is operatively coupled to the client computer;
• and
• an output device for displaying the composite image, wherein the output device is operatively coupled to the client computer,
• wherein the input device, client computer, and the output device are at a first location and wherein the server computer is located at a second location.

A system for previewing an accessory, the system comprising:

• an information storage medium comprising a first electronic database of images of people;
• a server computer, the server computer being linked to different accessory-provider computer sites respectively having different accessories for viewing, and the server computer including (i) a first computer program for selecting a first image from the first electronic database, the first image comprising an image of an intended recipient of an accessory, (ii) a second computer program for selecting a second image from a second electronic database, the second image comprising an image of one of the accessories to be worn on the intended recipient in the first image and (iii) a third computer program for generating data of a composite image illustrating the accessory being worn on the intended recipient from the data of the first image and data of the second image;
• a client computer for receiving the data of the composite image, wherein the client computer is operatively coupled to the server computer;
• and
• an output device for displaying the composite image. wherein the output device is operatively coupled to the client computer.