WO2015044309A1

WO2015044309A1 - Method and device for correctly and realistically displaying a pair of eyeglasses

Info

Publication number: WO2015044309A1
Application number: PCT/EP2014/070565
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carl Erik Eriksson
Original assignee: Nova Resources Sarl
Priority date: 2013-09-25
Filing date: 2014-09-25
Publication date: 2015-04-02

Abstract

The present invention refers to a method and a device for realistically displaying eyeglasses through an Internet web site or other known media, such as a mailshot, said method comprising the steps: ⋅ Entering the intended eyeglass prescription and a digital picture of the consumer's face, ⋅ Marking the pupils, ⋅ Calculating the interpupillary distance, ⋅ Retrieval over the Internet of an image of a spectacle frame, ⋅ Correctly positioning image of frame together with image of consumer with regard to centering relative to pupils, ⋅ Adjusting the appearance of the face and eye behind the spectacles according to the wearers optical prescription, and ⋅ Adjusting the appearance of the finished eyeglasses on the face according to how reflections would affect the front of the lens depending on known parameters, such as the power of the lens, the front curve of the lens the refractive index of the lens, the reflective properties of the lens.

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CORRECTLY AND REALISTICALLY DISPLAYING A PAIR OF EYEGLASSES

Technical area

The present invention relates to a method and a device for correctly displaying a pair of eyeglasses (frame with lenses) on a customer's face through an Internet web site.

Background of the invention

Such a method is known from US 6,791,584 describing a method of scaling the facial image together with a spectacle frame image. By determining the scale of the facial image by combining the information of the interpupillary distance with the location of the pupils within the image the two images can be superimposed showing the spectacle frame with the correct relative size in front of the face.

Object of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a method and a device for correctly displaying a pair of eyeglasses, which method is easy to use for a customer to get a substantially true image of spectacle frames on an image.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and a device for correctly displaying a pair of eyeglasses, which method makes it possible to realistically show not only a frame but a complete pair of eyeglasses superimposed on the facial image provided.

These objects are achieved according to the invention by a method and a device which have been given the characterising features specified in Claim 1.

Preferred embodiments have been given the characterising features specified in the sub-claims.

Summary of the invention

This invention implies combining up to five or six elements in order to arrive at a good representation of how a consumer would look with a specific pair of spectacles on a web site of a provider. In such a case the following information must be registered on the web site: i. The customer's optical prescription - this involves knowing the spherical and cylindrical powers of the proposed lenses for both eyes And could also include any other information regarding the physical properties of the lenses to display such as bifocal 'window' or other partial distorting characteristic of the lenses.

ii. The distance between the pupils of the two eyes, i.e. the interpupillary distance.

iii. A digital image of the customer's face

iv. A digital image and correct measurement of the spectacle frame to be tested. There must also be a known measurement in pixels of the image.

v. A measurement from a statistical database (experience) be used showing the average distance from the rim of the lower part of the specific frame up to the pupil of the typical wearer of the frame, or from the top and down to the pupil. Since this measurement is the measurement used for fitting the frame with progressive/multifocal lenses this measurement is generally available to somebody involved with the manufacture of eyeglasses using that style of frame.

vi. The physical characteristics of the lens could also be determined, such as its optical index, possible antireflective treatment and the color of the lens.

By measuring the distance between pupils in the way defined in the claims no finishing work must be performed by the user and hence makes the method reliable. Also it makes it possible for a consumer who does not know his/her own interpupillary distance to use the system.

Summary of the drawing

The invention is described in more detail in the following with reference to the attached drawing which shows a preferred embodiment.

Fig. 1 shows a flow chart describing the method according to the invention. Fig. 2 shows a front view of an input of a customer's digital photo used according to the method according to the invention. Description of a preferred embodiment

In Fig. 1 a flow chart is shown showing the method of creating realistic images (still or video) of a person wearing eyeglasses to be displayed over the Internet or any other media, such as a mailshot with all information on a USB memory or other type of digital media which after finishing is to be returned to the eyeglass provider.

1 : 1 The customer provides information regarding the power of his/her right and left lenses - the eyeglass prescription.

1 :2 The customer also provides information regarding his/her interpupillary distance (pd), whereby as an example a method to determine the interpupillary distance is using the method shown in fig 2.

1 :3 The customer provides a digital image of himself/herself. 1 :6 The system has the image of the spectacle frame and knowledge of its size and scale.

1 :4 On the customer image the pupils are marked - either by the customer or by software automatically detecting the pupils.

1 :5 Once the interpupillary distance and the position of the pupils is known it is possible to automatically adjust either the facial image or the image of the frame or both so they are scaled the same. 1 :7 The image of the frame can now be superimposed over the image of the facial image correctly scaled, correctly centered and correctly angled/rotated.

1 :8 The system also has information about the statistically normal placement of customers' pupils within the specific frame based on actual measurements of consumers who have actively chosen the particular frame. 1 :9 The system can now also place the frame at the correct height relative to the pupils.

1 : 10 Input is generated by the consumer by specifying the type of lens including some or all of the lens parameters such as type of material which gives the refractive index, spherical power which shows how the image should be distorted as well as the cylinder and axis of the cylinder which also informs of the distorting properties of the lens. The type of lens could also be bifocal which would inform of the size and shape of the 'window for reading' at the bottom of the lens.

1 : 11 The image of the face is now digitally distorted to the extent the power of the customer's prescription dictates. If the customer's glasses have lenses with a negative power the facial image will be distorted to appear smaller where the face is covered by the lens - meaning that parts of the user's facial image which are covered by the frame and sometimes even outside the frame need to be shown within the frame but diminished. Also the image of the face can be distorted to reflect the prismatic effect introduced by the lens which can make the part of the face behind the lens 'move' sideways or up and down. When calculating the prismatic effect of the lens the adjustment can take into account the interpupillary distance and thus show the effect as it increases within the frame as the distance from the optical center of the lens increases.

In Fig. 2 is shown by way of example how the interpupillary distance, i.e. the distance between the pupils la and lb, can be achieved. A digital photo 2 or facial image of the face of the consumer is taken wherein the consumer is holding a credit card, identity card or the like 3 under the nose or elsewhere within the photo frame 4, whereupon this digital photo is registered through the Internet on the web site of the eyeglass provider. The credit card or the like 3 should be hold as flush as possible with the consumer's eyes. The consumer, who does not know his/her interpupillary distance, will indicate where his/her pupils la, lb are on the digital photo 2 by pointing out the distance "a" between the pupils manually with the computer cursor or it will be automatically registered by software by means of known recognition technic. All credit cards globally have a unique shape and size and accordingly the same distance "b" between the short sides thereof can be registered manually with the computer cursor or it will be automatically registered by software by means of known recognition technic. The input of the location of the credit card 3 or the like and the eye pupils la, lb on the customer's photo will then be calculated so that the customer's interpupillary distance becomes known. The reference points on the credit card 3 could instead of the short sides be the long sides or even the four corners thereof, thereby minimizing an error in measuring if the credit card is held obliquely.

The location of the pupils la, lb could also be determined in software - as is commonly done when automatically correcting 'red eyes' in pictures. Also this can be done by means of known technic.

Hence, when the distance between the pupils la, lb is known and the location within the digital facial image is known the scale of the image is also known. Thus the image of the spectacle frame may be superimposed using the same scale. Alternatively a new image/digital photo without any known object such as the credit card will be used for the presentation of the consumer with glasses superimposed.

When the position of the pupils la, lb has been marked it is also known if they are aligned horizontally or if a line combining the pupils is tilted - the same tilt is applied to the superimposed image of the frame.

The spectacle frame can also be correctly centered so that it is correctly centered with an identical distance from the middle of the frame to the two pupils.

Knowledge of the statistically normal height of a pupil within the particular frame makes it possible to adjust the frame to a correct position also vertically. A person who is near-sighted uses lenses with a negative power. Anything viewed through the lens is perceived as smaller. For persons with the opposite problem and thus using plus powered lenses the eye and surrounding part of the face viewed appear enlarged. Furthermore, with knowledge of the person's prescription the image of the eye and/or face can be digitally distorted where the spectacle frame is positioned in front of the face to a degree corresponding to the power of the lens. Also cylindrical powers of the lens can be adjusted for.

Furthermore with knowledge of the refractive index of the lens material and the size and shape of the frame the edge thickness of the lens can be calculated and displayed on the image. If the image shows a slight rotation of the face the edge of the lens will show.

Visual adjustments can also be made for reflexes in the lens showing the existence or absence of antireflective treatment and any tint to the lens.

Thus, using the complete set of information a very true representation of what the customer would look like wearing not just the spectacle frame but the complete pair of spectacles is possible to generate.

Also the area within the frame is adjusted for reflexes caused by the piano or convex outer surface of the lens and if or if not this surface has been coated with an antireflective coating. The part of the image that is within the frame is also adjusted for any tint in the lens.

If the picture has been taken at an oblique angle or if the head has been rotated and shown in a video sequence - the thickness of the lens at the edges can be visually presented.

According to the invention a device is provided to carry out the method. The device comprises several means for carrying out said method.

The method and device according to the invention can be modified within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. Method for realistically displaying eyeglasses through an Internet web site or other known media, such as a mailshot, characterized by the steps:

• Entering on the web site of the eyeglass provider information about the intended eyeglass prescription and a picture of the consumer's face in digital form,

• Marking the pupils on the image either manually or automatically by software or the information could already be known by the provider due to contact by others means,

• Calculating the interpupillary distance of the customer,

• Retrieval over the Internet of an image of a spectacle frame with known measurement and known scale of the image,

· Correctly positioning image of frame together with image of consumer with regard to centering relative to pupils, rotating as the eyes in the image and adjusting vertically according to specially obtained vertical positioning,

• Adjusting the appearance of the face and eye behind the spectacles according to the wearers optical prescription, and.

• Adjusting the appearance of the finished eyeglasses on the face according to how reflections would affect the front of the lens depending on known parameters, such as the power of the lens, the front curve of the lens, the refractive index of the lens, the reflective properties of the lens.

2. Method according to Claim 1, characterized by further adjusting the appearance of the lens according to the edge thickness of the lens in the particular frame in order to achieve an image of the customer with eyeglasses as realistic as possible.

3. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized by determining said interpupillary distance of the customer using a common object with well- known dimensions within the image, such as a credit card.

4. Method according to Claim 3, characterized by providing a picture of the customer where he/she holds said common object positioned at about the same distance from the camera lens as his/her eyes, e.g. under his/her nose.

5. Method according to Claim 3 or 4, characterized by determining said interpupillary distance on the image by marking either automatically by software or manually.

6. Method according to Claims 5, characterized by determining the corners and/or sides of said common object on the image by marking either automatically by software or manually.

7. Method according to Claim 5 or 6, characterized by calculating said interpupillary distance in relation to said picture.

8. Device to carry out the method according to Claims 1-7, for realistically displaying eyeglasses through an Internet web site or known media, such as a mailshot, characterized in that it comprises means for entering the intended eyeglass prescription, means for marking the pupils on an image, means to retrieve over the Internet an image of a spectacle frame, means for correctly position image of said frame with image of said consumer, and means for adjusting the appearance of face and eye as well as the appearance of the finished eyeglass on the face.