WO2017129164A1

WO2017129164A1 - System for optically measuring a body part

Info

Publication number: WO2017129164A1
Application number: PCT/DE2017/000012
Authority: WO
Inventors: Markus PIEBROCK
Original assignee: Footfact.Com Gmbh; BURNIC, Flaco
Priority date: 2016-01-26
Filing date: 2017-01-24
Publication date: 2017-08-03
Also published as: DE112017000508A5

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for optically measuring a body part, comprising a digital camera which has a search field for detecting an image to be captured, a reference object with at least one known reference variable, a transmission device for digital data of the image located in the search field, a computing device for calculating the size of the body limb from the digital data transmitted to the computing device, and a display device for displaying the size of the body part. The invention is characterized in that the entire reference object is arranged in the search field of the digital camera adjacently to the body limb. The invention also relates to a method for providing an article of clothing on the Internet using the system according to one of the claims 1 to 6, having the following steps: providing access to an online shop; providing a search function for articles of clothing by inputting a search request; synchronizing the digital data which is ascertained using the system and relates to the size of the body part with the search request; and providing offers for articles of clothing, the sizes of which match the size of the body part.

Description

System for the optical measurement of a body part

The present invention relates to a system for optical measurement of a body part, comprising a digital camera having a search field for determining a picture to be recorded, with a reference object having at least one known reference variable, with a digital data transmission device of the image in the search field a computing device for calculating the size of the body member from the digital data transmitted to the computing device and having a display device for displaying the size of the body part.

The present invention also relates to the use of such a system in online commerce and to a method of ordering garments using such a system.

DE 10 2011 211 086 A1 and DE 20 2013 011 910 U1 disclose systems for the optical measurement of limbs. The two publications of the prior art describe that a reference variable must be used for the optical measurement by means of a digital recording device. In both cases, this reference variable is a reference object specially prepared for the respective method. In DE 10 2011 211 086 A1 this reference object is a reference plane provided with a geometrical pattern, on which a foot must be placed before it is picked up in this situation with the digital recording device. In DE 20 2013 011 910 U1, this reference object is a reference plate on which the foot must be placed before it is picked up in this situation with the digital recording device.

In the prior art described above, it is necessary for the users to be specially prepared or specially designed for the particular measuring process Measurement process predefined reference objects available. This would have to be ensured in the case of measurement measures planned in advance, for example in the scientific environment. For spontaneous projects, for example when buying a piece of clothing or shoes, but such predefined reference objects are regularly not available, so that a measurement process can not be performed reliably. This is a disadvantage for the user.

For example, if the user wishes to order or buy a shoe on the Internet on a shop portal and for this purpose is to specify the exact foot size, he lacks the specially prepared reference objects known from the prior art and required for the methods described therein. He would have to make sure before the visit of the buyer portal to be in possession of such predefined reference objects.

The object of the present invention is therefore to develop a system for the optical measurement of body parts of the aforementioned prior art in such a way that objects can be used as a reference object that need not be specially prepared for a surveying process.

The object is achieved in that the entire reference object is arranged in the search field of the digital camera next to the body member.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system for optically measuring a body part of the decision to order or purchase a garment.

This object is achieved in that the system according to the invention for the optical measurement of a body part is used in online trading and the digital data determined with the system to the size of the body part with an electronic query in to be synchronized to a computer network.

With the system according to the invention, it is possible to determine in a relatively simple manner the exact size of a body limb to be measured. There is a plurality of reference objects owned by each user with at least one known reference size. This fact is due to standardization, which is subject to many daily necessities. Thus, for the present invention basically all standardized in terms of their size objects. If these are placed for recording by a digital camera next to the male body part and are taken together with the body part, the computing device can recognize the standardized object and on the basis of the known, at least one reference size by a mathematical algorithm, the size of the arranged next to the reference object body part to calculate.

With the use according to the invention and the method according to the invention, it is possible to significantly reduce the number of returns in the internet trade. A very large proportion of the returns of garments is due to mismatched sizes. The simple, accurate measurement of a limb and the use of the exact measurements resulting from this measurement in the search for garments in a shopper portal reduces the risk of having to select and send back mismatched garments.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the reference object of the system according to the invention is round. The round shape of the reference object requires only one known reference variable, namely the diameter. The diameter of a round reference object corresponds to the length and the width of the same. There are a variety of standard round reference objects among potential users of the present invention, be it the system or the method. Such a round, standardized reference object is for Example a coin. Preferably, in the system according to the invention, its use and the method according to the invention as a reference object, a 2 € piece can be used. Any other coin would also be suitable.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the reference object is formed out of round as an alternative to a round shape. However, in the case of a non-circular reference object, more than one reference size is required in order to perform the calculation of the size of the body part. In the daily needs of a potential user of the system according to the invention, its use and the method according to the invention, however, there are also numerous standardized, non-circular reference objects. Such a standardized non-circular reference object is, for example, a credit card, cash card, or any other card in credit card format.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the digital camera is integrated in a smartphone. By integrating the digital camera in a smartphone, the digital data of a visual image taken with the digital camera can be easily fed to a transmission device and sent via radio to a receiver. As a result, the recorded digital data can be used more easily in the method according to the invention.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the transmission device comprises a web application installed on the smartphone. Using such a web application, the digital camera integrated in the smartphone can be easily synchronized with the data provided on a buyer portal.

Another advantage of the present invention is that a digital archive is provided in which garments are archived with their metric sizes and that the synchronization between the determined by a user size of his body part and a query by the user on a buyer portal depending on the stored in the archive metric sizes of the garment sought. This avoids deviations in the actual metric size of a garment from the designated size of the garment leading to wrong decisions and associated returns.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the single figure.

The system according to the invention is intended for the end user. In the preferred embodiment, a web application 1 is provided that is downloaded by the user 3 of a smartphone 5. With the aid of this web application 1, the user 3 can take a photo of, for example, his foot with a digital camera 7 integrated on the smartphone 5. The system according to the invention comprises a reference object 9, which is preferably a standardized object, such as a coin, a credit card or the like. Before taking z. As the foot with the built-in smartphone 5 digital camera 7 sets the user 1, the standardized object as a reference object 9 next to his foot, so in the search field of the camera 7 and the lens of the camera 7 (not shown), both the reference object 9 in the whole as well as the foot can be seen. Then, the user 3 presses a trigger 11 and picks up the foot and the reference object 9, which lies completely next to the foot. The image located in the search field of the camera 5 becomes a digital data record after the recording, which is transmitted to a computer 15 by a digital data transmission device 13. This calculates from at least some of the digital data of the digital data set, the size optionally also the volume of the limb. The system also includes an electronic display 17 for displaying the body part and optionally also the size of the recorded body part and the determined body size. The transmission device 13 comprises the web application 1 present in an app memory 19. This is programmed such that a multiplicity of reference objects 9 having at least one known reference variable are stored. In the 2D recording of the foot with the reference object 9 selected by the user 3, the web application 1 recognizes the recorded reference object 9 from the multiplicity of reference objects 9 and its at least one reference variable. The web application 1 also includes an algorithm with the aid of which a calculation of the foot also recognized in the 2D image can be calculated from the at least one reference variable of the reference object detected in the 2D image. For this purpose, the 2D images (images) are electronically converted into 3D diagrams. Such conversion can be performed by commercially available image editing programs. The integrated or external to the web application 1 computing device 15 then calculates the exact dimensions of the length, width and volume of the foot or other body part. For this purpose, the computing device 15 also includes a skin recognition software. This is used today eg in social media to recognize unauthorized nudity in photos. Such software may for example be based on a few Phyton scripts, programming libraries such as Open CV and OCR software Tesseract. A software developed for the present invention can recognize body parts by skin contours and, if necessary, surround them with a line and display them on the display device 17. As the body part to be picked up with the camera 7 moves, the perspective and thus the course of the line change. The size and the volume of the body part can also be determined mathematically from the contour determined in this way, so that a reference object 9 can be completely dispensed with.

In other embodiments, any other body part and possibly even any other object can be measured in this way.

Regardless of the web application 1 and the smartphone 5 is in the computing device 15 itself or in a connected to the computing device 15 computer network a Database 21 (digital archive), in which an unlimited number of garments, for example shoes, gloves, headgear, lingerie and underwear are included. Clothing is commercially furnished with a uniform but at regular intervals variable size. Such a size specification also varies among the countries of distribution and among the countries of production. Thus, a shopper can not be sure that a garment of a particular designated size of clothing of a first manufacturer is in fact the same size as the same article of clothing with the same designated size of clothing of a second manufacturer. In the database 21 garments are now archived independently of the manufacturer, which in addition to the designated clothing sizes, the actual, metric or non-metric clothing sizes are assigned. Thus, it may be that two identical garments with the same designated garment size have different metric or non-metric sizes and / or conversely, two identical garments of different designated garment size have equal metric or non-metric sizes.

The method according to the invention using the system according to the invention includes a synchronization of the size of a body part measured with the system with the electronic search query in a buyer portal 23 (Internet). Thus, when the user 3 in the buyer portal 23 makes an electronic query for a garment having a certain designated clothing size, the search query includes the actual measured size of the body part of the user 3 (searcher) and matches an electronic search engine in the computer network (eg Internet) Search query with the stored in the archive of the database 21 actual metric or non-metric size of the requested garment from (synchronization). The user 3 then receives, based on his query, a hit list with garments that may have different designated dress sizes, but in fact match the actual measured size of the body part. The system according to the invention also comprises a memory 25 in which the size of the body part actually measured is stored, so that the user 3 no longer has to carry out an optical measurement of this body part with each purchase on the Internet or other computer network. The system according to the invention can then always refer to the relevant actual measured body size of the relevant body part in the memory 25 in order to carry out the synchronization with the search query.

The technical processes in the background are well known and not the subject of the present invention. Technically speaking, the prerequisite for the present invention is the simple and rapid detection of the actual size of a body part and the synchronization of digital data of the measured body part size with the metric sizes of the garments stored in the digital archive, regardless of their garment size data.

For the purposes of the invention, the term "metrical quantities" is intended to be a generic term for all measured variables customary in a civilization, with which comparable absolute measured values can be expressed: In civilizations in which no metric systems are used (eg USA, GB), they are to be replaced in the context of the invention by the usual non-metric system there.

Claims

claims

A system for optical measurement of a body part, comprising a digital camera (7) having a search field for determining a picture to be recorded, having a reference object (9) with at least one known reference variable, with a digital data transmission device (13) image located in the search field, with a computing device (15) for calculating the size of the limb from the digital data transmitted to the computing device (15) and with a display device (17) for displaying the size of the body part,

characterized,

that the whole reference object (9) is arranged in the search field of the digital camera (7) next to the body member.

2. System according to claim 1,

characterized,

that the reference object (9) is round.

3. System according to claim 1,

characterized,

that the reference object (9) is out of round.

4. System according to claim 1 or 2,

characterized,

the reference object (9) is a coin.

5. System according to claim 3,

characterized,

the reference object (9) is a card in credit card format.

6. System according to one of the preceding claims,

characterized,

that the body part is a foot or a hand.

7. System according to one of the preceding claims,

characterized,

the digital camera (7) is integrated in a smartphone (5).

8. System according to claim 7,

characterized,

in that the transmission device (13) comprises a web application (1) which is installed on the smartphone (5) and controls the optical measurement.

9. System according to claim 8,

characterized,

in that the web application (1) can be synchronized with at least one buyer portal (23) in a computer network.

10. Use of the system according to one of claims 1 to 6 in the online trading of a computer network.

A method of providing a garment in a computer network using the system of any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising the steps of:

Providing access to an online shop established in the computer network;

Providing an electronic search engine in the computer network for garments with a search function by entering a search query for a clothing and a search function, entering a photograph of a naked body part to which the garment is to fit;

Synchronizing the system-determined digital data with the size of the body part with the search query for the garment;

Providing offers on garments whose sizes match the size of the body part.

12. The method according to claim 11,

characterized by the step before providing the search function:

Providing a digital archive in which garments are archived with their metric or non-metric sizes.

13. The method according to claim 12,

thereby

marked that

the step of synchronizing comprises the step:

Finding garments with the metric or non-metric sizes provided in the digital archive.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13,

characterized,

that garments are selected from the group consisting of shoes, gloves, outerwear and underwear, headgear.