Computerized, personal-color analysis sytem

Abstract

A method and apparatus to automatically generate a customized color palette receives data corresponding to several physical attributes of a living subject, such as hair, skin and eyes and conducts an analysis uniquely corresponding to each attribute, and may associate each attribute with at least one property such as a color family, a technical identifier, an intensifier, a temperature, a power color, and a saturation designation. Software may identify the color linked to each attribute by, for example, an LAB value, an RGB value, an HTML value, an XYZ value or a CMY value, while an intensifier may be a contrasting color, and saturation may indicate whether the color linked to the attribute is a tone, tint, shade or hue. A color palette uniquely compatible with the subject may be presented by print media, monitor, printer, cell phone, personal digital assistant, or the like.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . At a computer system, the computer system including a processor, a method for recommending a customized color palette for a human subject, the method comprising:
 mapping a first general color acquired for the human subject to a corresponding first general color value in a multi-category color scheme, the multi-category color scheme representing ranges of adjacent color categories using values ranging from lower values for colors in a light category through middle values for colors in a middle category to higher values for colors in vivid category, the first general color corresponding to a physical feature of the human subject;   mapping a second general color acquired for the human subject to a corresponding second general color value in the multi-category color scheme, the second general color corresponding to another different physical feature of the human subject;   determining, using the multi-category color scheme, a color classification for the human subject, the color classification selected from a plurality of different color classifications, determining the color classification including:
 when the first general color value and the second general color value are identified as being included within the same color category or within two adjacent color categories of the multi-category color scheme, generating an average of the first general color value and second general color value, identifying within which of the color categories the average is included, and assigning the identified category as the color classification for the human subject; and 
 when the first general color value and the second general color are identified as being separated by at least one intermediate color category, assigning a contrasting category as the color classification for the human subject; and 
   the processor formulating the customized color palette for the human subject based on the assigned color classification of the human subject, the customized color palette including appropriate colors for the assigned color classification; and   displaying the customized color palette at a display device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: including a power color in the customized color palette, the power color being a fully saturated hue corresponding to the first general color. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: including an intensifier color in the customized color palette, the intensifier color being opposite the first general color on a color wheel. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 including at least one color in the customized color palette based on one or more of: a temperature, saturation, tone, tint, or shade of the first or second general color.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the values in the color scheme are numbers, and the numbers for colors in the light category are smaller than numbers for colors in the middle category, and the numbers for colors in the middle category are smaller than the numbers for colors in the vivid category. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more colors included in the customized color palette is selected for inclusion based on the formula: (E−B)*X+B, where E represents the number of the darkest color in the color scheme, B represents the number of the lightest color in the color scheme, and X represents a percentage based on the classification of the human subject. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 accessing scanner output data;   acquiring the first general color from the scanner output data; and   acquiring the second general color from the scanner output data.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the physical feature of the human subject is a physical feature selected from among: eyes, hair, and skin. 
     
     
         9 . A computer program product of use at a computer system, the computer program product for implementing a method for recommending a customized color palette for a human subject, the computer program product comprising one or more hardware storage devices having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed at a processor, cause the computer system to perform the method, including the following:
 map a first general color acquired for the human subject to a corresponding first general color value in a multi-category color scheme, the multi-category color scheme representing ranges of adjacent color categories using values ranging from lower values for colors in a light category through middle values for colors in a middle category to higher values for colors in vivid category, the first general color corresponding to a physical feature of the human subject;   map a second general color acquired for the human subject to a corresponding second general color value in the multi-category color scheme, the second general color corresponding to another different physical feature of the human subject;   determine, using the multi-category color scheme, a color classification for the human subject, the color classification selected from a plurality of different color classifications, determining the color classification including:
 when the first general color value and the second general color value are identified as being included within the same color category or within two adjacent color categories of the multi-category color scheme, generate an average of the first general color value and second general color value, identify within which of the color categories the average is included, and assign the identified category as the color classification for the human subject; and 
 when the first general color value and the second general color are identified as being separated by at least one intermediate color category, assign a contrasting category as the color classification for the human subject; and 
   formulate the customized color palette for the human subject based on the assigned color classification of the human subject, the customized color palette including appropriate colors for the human subjects assigned color classification; and   display the customized color palette at a display device.   
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to include a power color in the customized color palette, the power color being a fully saturated hue corresponding to the first general color. 
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to include an intensifier color in the customized color palette, the intensifier color being opposite the first general color on a color wheel. 
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to:
 include at least one color in the customized color palette based on one or more of: a temperature, saturation, tone, tint, or shade of the first or second general color.   
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , wherein the values in the color scheme are numbers, and the numbers for colors in the light category are smaller than numbers for colors in the middle category, and the numbers for colors in the middle category are smaller than the numbers for colors in the vivid category. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 9  of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more colors included in the customized color palette is selected for inclusion based on the formula: (E−B)*X+B, where E represents the number of the darkest color in the color scheme, B represents the number of the lightest color in the color scheme, and X represents a percentage based on the classification of the human subject. 
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to:
 access scanner output data;   acquire the first general color from the scanner output data; and   acquire the second general color from the scanner output data.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , wherein the physical feature of the human subject is a physical feature selected from among: eyes, hair, and skin. 
     
     
         17 . A system, the system comprising:
 one or more processors;   system memory; and   one or more storage devices having stored thereon color analysis application, the color analysis application configured to:
 map a first general color acquired for the human subject to a corresponding first general color value in a multi-category color scheme, the multi-category color scheme representing ranges of adjacent color categories using values ranging from lower values for colors in a light category through middle values for colors in a middle category to higher values for colors in vivid category, the first general color corresponding to a physical feature of the human subject; 
 map a second general color acquired for the human subject to a corresponding second general color value in the multi-category color scheme, the second general color corresponding to another different physical feature of the human subject; 
 determine, using the multi-category color scheme, a color classification for the human subject, the color classification selected from a plurality of different color classifications, determining the color classification including: 
 when the first general color value and the second general color value are identified as being included within the same color category or within two adjacent color categories of the multi-category color scheme, generate an average of the first general color value and second general color value, identify within which of the color categories the average is included, and assign the identified category as the color classification for the human subject; and 
 when the first general color value and the second general color are identified as being separated by at least one intermediate color category, assign a contrasting category as the color classification for the human subject; and 
 formulate the customized color palette for the human subject based on the assigned color classification of the human subject, the customized color palette including appropriate colors for the human subjects assigned color classification; and 
 display the customized color palette at a display device. 
   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the color analysis application is further configured to:
 access scanner output data;   acquire the first general color from the scanner output data; and   acquire the second general color from the scanner output data.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the physical feature is eyes. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the other different physical feature is physical feature selected from among hair and skin.