US 9,691,161 B1Granted

Material recognition for object identification

AssigneeA9.com, Inc.

InventorsIsmet Zeki Yalniz, Leo Benedict Baldwin, Arnab Sanat Kumar Dhua, Isabella Talley Lewis, Colin Jon Taylor

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Abstract

The recognition of objects such as clothing items can be improved by capturing image data that represents the material characteristics and true color of the object. A high resolution image can be captured that shows the individual threads and/or fibers, among other possible pattern or texture characteristics. Various approaches are discussed for determining the scale of these features to more accurately determine the way the material is made. Further, approaches are discussed that enable the true color of the material to be determined, through hardware and/or software, to further improve the accuracy of such a determination. The material and color properties can be combined with a conventional object recognition process to provide accurate object identification and/or authentication results.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

capturing first image data including a first representation of an object, the object corresponding to an apparel item, the first representation providing a full view of the object from a first point of view;
receiving an instruction to capture second image data, the second image data including a second representation of a portion of the object enabling individual threads of the apparel item to be identified;
causing at least one instance of the second image data to be captured while light is emitted from at least one determined light source, each instance of the second image data captured with a respective set of illumination properties;
determining, from the second image data, weave pattern data for a material region of the apparel item;
determining, using the second image data, true color data, thread texture data, and dimension data for the threads of the material;
and
providing the first image data, the weave pattern data, the true color data, the thread texture data, and the dimension data to an object recognition process, wherein the first image data is capable of being used to determine a type of the apparel item and the weave pattern data, true color data, and dimension data are capable of being used to discern between apparel items of the determined type.

4 more elements

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

receive a first image including a first representation of an item, the first representation of the item taken from at least a first determined distance enabling at least a majority of a first view of the item to be represented in the first image;
receive a second image including a second representation of a portion of the item, the second representation taken from at most a second determined distance enabling a material texture of the item to be determined;
determine, using at least one processor of a computer system, a type of the item by analyzing the first image;
determine, using the at least one processor and data for the material texture from the second image, a matching item of the type of item that exhibits the material texture;
and
provide information for the matching item as identifying information for the item represented in the first image.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.