Systems, devices and methods for an interactive art marketplace in a networked environment

Abstract

Information related to art is provided in networked computing environments wherein users can participate in public or private online interactive video conferences, chat rooms and other online sessions led by art galleries or art gallery affiliates. User's may switch between public sessions and private sessions when ready to make a transaction related to an art object or artist presented in a public session. In private online sessions, potential consumers may also electronically provide the art gallery pictures, diagrams and photographs of an area in which they are interested in placing certain art objects. An image of the art object is shown within the picture to scale with other objects such as a wall, and angle of view. Users may also see the art objects to scale next to other stock images of familiar reference objects during the online session.

1 . A computer-implemented method of presenting objects for review, the method comprising:
 receiving a set of room image data that digitally represents an image of a portion of a physical room, the image captured by an end user via a camera, the physical room having at least one wall and one or more physical dimensions;   receiving information that indicates at least one of the one or more physical dimensions of the physical room that is digitally represented by the received set of room image data;   receiving a selection indicative of a physical piece of art, the physical piece of art having one or more physical dimensions;   causing a visual representation of the portion of the physical room that is digitally represented by the received set of room image data;   receiving a first selection via the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, the first selection indicative of a first location for placement of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room represented by the room image data; and   superimposing a visual representation of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed at the first location for placement indicated by the received first selection and the superimposed visual representation of the physical piece of art represented to scale with a scale of the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, the scale based at least in part on the physical dimensions of the physical piece of art and the physical dimensions of the physical room.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving a set of room image data that digitally represents an image of a portion of a physical room includes receiving digital image data indicative of a perspective view of the portion of the physical room showing at least two walls of the physical room. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the received first selection indicative of a first location for placement of the physical piece of art indicates a first one of the at least two walls of the physical room, and wherein superimposing a visual representation of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room includes superimposing the visual representation of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the image of the portion of the physical room to appear at an exact or approximate angle of view that matches an angle of view of the first wall in the image of the portion of the physical room. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 receiving a second selection via the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, subsequent to receipt of the first selection, the second selection indicative of a second location for placement of the physical piece of art in the portion of the physical room represented by the room image data, the second location different from the first location; and   superimposing a visual representation of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed at the second location for placement indicated by the received second selection, and the visual representation of the physical piece of art represented to scale with respect to the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, the scale based at least in part on the physical dimensions of the physical piece of art and the physical dimensions of the physical room.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the received second selection indicative of a second location for placement of the physical piece of art indicates a second one of the at least two walls of the physical room, and wherein superimposing a visual representation of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room includes superimposing the visual representation of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room to appear at an exact or approximate angle of view that matches an angle of view of the second wall in the image of the portion of the physical room. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein receiving digital image data indicative of a perspective view of the physical place in which the physical piece of art may be potentially placed includes receiving digital image data in which at least one of the first or the second walls is not perpendicular to a point of view of the camera. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving a set of room image data that digitally represents an image of a portion of a physical room, includes receiving a digital image of a portion of the home of the end user, and the digital image includes at least one reference object. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 determining a set of nominal physical dimensions for the reference object; and   scaling the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed at the first location for placement indicated by the received first selection based at least in part on the set of nominal physical dimensions for the reference object.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a selection indicative of an image of a first physical reference object, the first reference object having one or more nominal physical dimensions; and   in response to receiving the selection indicative of the physical piece of art and receiving the selection indicative of the image of the first physical reference object, electronically causing a display of at least one image that concurrently shows a visual representation of the physical piece of art and a representation of the first physical reference object in which the visual representation of the physical piece of art and the visual representation of the first physical reference object are proportionate in size to each other based at least in part on the one or more physical dimensions of the physical piece of art and the one or more nominal physical dimensions of the first physical reference object.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving at least one input to zoom in or zoom out; and   in response to the received input, automatically zooming in or zooming out a view of the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed on the visual representation of the image of the portion of the physical room.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receive input to rotate a view of the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed on the visual representation of the image of the portion of the physical room; and   in response to the received input, rotating the view of the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed on the visual representation of the image of the portion of the physical room.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving a selection indicative of a piece of art includes receiving a selection indicative of at least one of a piece of furniture, a painting, or a sculpture. 
     
     
         13 . A networked computing system, comprising:
 at least one networked computer, including at least one processor and at least one processor-readable storage medium that non-transitorily stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor causes the at least one processor to:   receive a set of room image data that digitally represents an image of a portion of a physical room, the image captured by an end user via a camera, the physical room having at least one wall and one or more physical dimensions;   receive information that indicates at least one of the one or more physical dimensions of the physical room that is digitally represented by the received set of room image data;   receive a selection indicative of a physical piece of art, the physical piece of art having one or more physical dimensions;   cause a visual representation of the portion of the physical room that is digitally represented by the received set of room image data;   receive a first selection via the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, the first selection indicative of a first location for placement of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room represented by the room image data; and   cause a visual representation of the physical piece of art to be superimposed in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed at the first location for placement indicated by the received first selection and the superimposed visual representation of the physical piece of art represented to scale with a scale of the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, the scale based at least in part on the physical dimensions of the physical piece of art and the physical dimensions of the physical room.   
     
     
         14 . The networked computing system of  claim 13  wherein the received set of room image data is a digital image data indicative of a perspective view of the portion of the physical room showing at least two walls of the physical room, and the received first selection indicative of a first location for placement of the physical piece of art indicates a first one of the at least two walls of the physical room, and wherein the visual representation of the physical piece of art is superimposed in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room to appear at an exact or approximate angle of view that matches an angle of view of the first wall in the image of the portion of the physical room. 
     
     
         15 . The networked computing system of  claim 14  wherein the instructions when executed by the at least one processor further cause the at least one processor to:
 receive a second selection via the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, subsequent to receipt of the first selection, the second selection indicative of a second location for placement of the physical piece of art in the portion of the physical room represented by the room image data, the second location different from the first location; and 
 cause a visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room at the second location for placement indicated by the received second selection, and the visual representation of the physical piece of art represented to scale with respect to the visual representation of the portion of the physical room, the scale based at least in part on the physical dimensions of the physical piece of art and the physical dimensions of the physical room. 
 
     
     
         16 . The networked computing system of  claim 15  wherein the received second selection indicative of a second location for placement of the physical piece of art indicates a second one of the at least two walls of the physical room, and wherein superimposing a visual representation of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room includes superimposing the visual representation of the physical piece of art in the visual representation of the portion of the physical room to appear at an exact or approximate angle of view that matches an angle of view of the second wall in the image of the portion of the physical room. 
     
     
         17 . The networked computing system of  claim 13  wherein the received set of room image data is a digital image of a portion of the home of the end user, and the digital image includes at least one reference object, and the instructions when executed by the at least one processor further cause the at least one processor to:
 determine a set of nominal physical dimensions for the reference object; and 
 scale the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed at the first location for placement indicated by the received first selection based at least in part on the set of nominal physical dimensions for the reference object. 
 
     
     
         18 . The networked computing system of  claim 13  wherein the instructions when executed by the at least one processor further cause the at least one processor to:
 receive a selection indicative of an image of a first physical reference object, the first reference object having one or more nominal physical dimensions; and 
 in response to receipt of the selection indicative of the physical piece of art and receiving the selection indicative of the image of the first physical reference object, electronically cause a display of at least one image that concurrently shows a visual representation of the physical piece of art and a representation of the first physical reference object in which the visual representation of the physical piece of art and the visual representation of the first physical reference object are proportionate in size to each other based at least in part on the one or more physical dimensions of the physical piece of art and the one or more nominal physical dimensions of the first physical reference object. 
 
     
     
         19 . The networked computing system of  claim 13  wherein the instructions when executed by the at least one processor further cause the at least one processor to:, further comprising:
 receive at least one input to zoom in or zoom out; and 
 in response to the receipt of the at least one input to zoom in or zoom out, automatically zoom in or zoom out a view of the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed on the visual representation of the image of the portion of the physical room; 
 receive input to rotate a view of the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed on the visual representation of the image of the portion of the physical room; and 
 in response to the receipt of the input to rotate, cause a rotation of the view of the visual representation of the physical piece of art superimposed on the visual representation of the image of the portion of the physical room. 
 
     
     
         20 . A computer-implemented method of presenting objects for review, the method comprising:
 receiving an electronic representation of a physical location in which the user-selected object of interest may be potentially placed, the physical location having one or more physical dimensions;   receiving a selection indicative of the user-selected object of interest, the user-selected object of interest being a physical object, the physical object having one or more physical dimensions;   identifying at least a first reference object in a visual representation of the physical location, the first reference object representative of a physical reference object having one or more physical dimensions;   determining at least one dimension of the physical reference object; and   digitally superimposing a visual representation of the user-selected object of interest on the visual representation of the physical location to provide at least one image in which a visual representation of the physical location and the visual representation of the user-selected object of interest are proportionate in size to each other based at least in part on the one or more physical dimensions of the physical object and the one or more physical dimensions of the physical location.