Identifying complimentary physical components to known physical components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10691983-B2
Application number	US-201816163035-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2018
Priority date	Oct 13, 2016
Publication date	Jun 23, 2020
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020

Abstract

An approach is provided that captures a digital image of an object that has a number of facets. The approach further determines the actual sizes of various facets found on the object. The actual sizes of the facets are used to identify compatible objects based, with the compatible objects being objects that can work with the object.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by an information handling system that includes a processor and a memory accessible by the processor, the method comprising:
capturing a digital image of a physical object that comprises a plurality of facets corresponding to a plurality of physical properties of the physical object;
determining, based on the captured digital image, an actual size of one or more of the physical object's facets;
identifying, from a database, one or more compatible physical objects corresponding to the physical object based on the actual size of the physical object's facets; and
displaying the one or more compatible physical objects on a display to a user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the compatible physical objects is a compatible replacement object of the physical object, and wherein the method further comprising:
identifying one or more boundaries of the physical object from the digital image; and
distinguishing a reference object from the physical object, wherein both the reference object and the physical object are included in the digital image, and wherein the reference object has a known size.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:
identifying a reference image size of the reference object in the digital image; and
extrapolating an image scale based on the identified reference image size and the known size of the reference object.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
identifying an object image size of the physical object in the digital image; and
determining the actual size of the physical object based on the extrapolated image scale and the object image size.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:
identifying a set of object metadata pertaining to the physical object;
comparing the identified set of object metadata to a plurality of sets of object class metadata;
identifying an object class of the physical object based on the comparing;
identifying one or more compatible object types based on the identified object class; and
identifying the compatible physical objects from a set of product objects belonging to the compatible object types and based on the actual size of the physical object.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
generating a search criteria based on a selected one of the compatible physical objects;
searching a data store that includes identifiers of a plurality of component products, wherein the searching utilizes the search criteria and results in a selected set of one or more of the plurality of component products that are adapted to work with the physical object;
displaying the selected set of component products to the user;
receiving a purchase selection of one of the displayed component products from the user; and
ordering the displayed component product corresponding to the received purchase selection from a selected online merchant.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:
receiving a price corresponding to the set of component products from a plurality of online merchants; and
displaying the price corresponding to each of the selected set of component products along with the online merchant associated with the displayed price, wherein the purchase selection includes the selected online merchant.

8. An information handling system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory coupled to at least one of the processors; and
a set of computer program instructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one of the processors in order to perform actions comprising:
capturing a digital image of a physical object that comprises a plurality of facets corresponding to a plurality of physical properties of the physical object;
determining, based on the captured digital image, an actual size of one or more of the physical object's facets;
identifying, from a database, one or more compatible physical objects corresponding to the physical object based on the actual size of the physical object's facets; and
displaying the one or more compatible physical objects on a display to a user.

9. The information handling system of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the compatible physical objects is a compatible replacement object of the physical object, and wherein the actions further comprise:
identifying one or more boundaries of the physical object from the digital image; and
distinguishing a reference object from the physical object, wherein both the reference object and the physical object are included in the digital image, and wherein the reference object has a known size.

10. The information handling system of claim 9 wherein the actions further comprise:
identifying a reference image size of the reference object in the digital image; and
extrapolating an image scale based on the identified reference image size and the known size of the reference object.

11. The information handling system of claim 10 wherein the actions further comprise:
identifying an object image size of the physical object in the digital image; and
determining the actual size of the physical object based on the extrapolated image scale and the object image size.

12. The information handling system of claim 11 wherein the actions further comprise:
identifying a set of object metadata pertaining to the physical object;
comparing the identified set of object metadata to a plurality of sets of object class metadata;
identifying an object class of the physical object based on the comparing;
identifying one or more compatible object types based on the identified object class; and
identifying the compatible physical objects from a set of product objects belonging to the compatible object types and based on the actual size of the physical object.

13. The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the actions further comprise:
generating a search criteria based on a selected one of the compatible physical objects;
searching a data store that includes identifiers of a plurality of component products, wherein the searching utilizes the search criteria and results in a selected set of one or more of the plurality of component products that are adapted to work with the physical object;
displaying the selected set of component products to the user;
receiving a purchase selection of one of the displayed component products from the user; and
ordering the displayed component product corresponding to the received purchase selection from a selected online merchant.

14. The information handling system of claim 13 wherein the actions further comprise:
receiving a price corresponding to the set of component products from a plurality of online merchants; and
displaying the price corresponding to each of the selected set of component products along with the online merchant associated with the displayed price, wherein the purchase selection includes the selected online merchant.

15. A computer program product stored in a computer readable storage medium, comprising computer program code that, when executed by an information handling system, performs actions comprising:
capturing a digital image of a physical object that comprises a plurality of facets corresponding to a plurality of physical properties of the physical object;
determining, based on the captured digital image, an actual size of one or more of the physical object's facets;
identifying, from a database, one or more compatible physical objects corresponding to the physical object based on the actual size of the physical object's facets; and
displaying the one or more compatible physical objects on a display to a user

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Beller Charles E
• Johnson Benjamin L

Classifications

• G06V20/66

  Trinkets, e.g. shirt buttons or jewellery items (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69) · CPC title

• G06F18/2431

  Multiple classes · CPC title

• G06F16/583 Primary

  using metadata automatically derived from the content · CPC title

• H04N23/60

  Control of cameras or camera modules · CPC title

• H04N23/63

  by using electronic viewfinders · CPC title