System and method for displaying selected garments on a computer-simulated mannequin

Abstract

A method and system for providing a computer-simulated environment for displaying a selected mannequin wearing a combination of selected garments. In one aspect, three-dimensional scenes containing mannequin and garment objects are created within a three-dimensional modeling environment, and a simulation is performed using a cloth simulator within the modeling environment to model the construction, draping, and collision of the garment with the mannequin. Rendering frames corresponding to a variety of garments, mannequins, garment dimensions, garment styles, wearing patterns, viewing angles, and other parameters, are then generated from which images can be rendered and displayed in accordance with user requests.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to methods and systems for producing images of computer-simulated clothing.BACKGROUND[0002]The concept of a computerized or simulated dressing environment is a user-operated display system that generates computer-simulated images of a human figure wearing one or more selected garments. The simulated human figure thus represents a virtual model or mannequin for modeling clothes. Such an environment should ideally provide the user with the capability of viewing the mannequin and garment from a plurality of viewpoints to give a three-dimensional experience. By allowing the user to also select in some manner the particular human figure that is to wear the garment, an individualized experience is provided that allows the user to see what selected clothes look like when worn by different people.[0003]The degree to which the system takes into account the physical forces acting on a garment as it is worn determine in large part how v...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0004]A primary aspect of the present invention is a method for efficiently producing images of a computer-simulated mannequin wearing a garment or garments, the geometries of which are defined by selected mannequin and garment parameter values. An image, as the term is used herein, includes any spatial function derived from a perspective projection of a three-dimensional scene either existing in the real world or as modeled by a computer. This definition includes not only the usual two-dimensional intensity image, such as that formed upon the human retina when viewing a scene in the real world or that captured on photographic film through a camera aperture, but also two-dimensional functions incorporating both intensity and phase information for use in wavefront reconstruction (i.e., holograms). The present invention primarily deals with digital images (i.e., discrete two-dimensional functions) derived from three-dimensional scenes by the process of rendering. An image should therefore be taken to mean any form of such rendered data that is capable of being represented internally by a computer and / or transmitted over a computer network. When referring specifically to a visually informative representation that can actually be perceived by the human eye, such as that produced on a computer display, the term visual image will be used.

[0006]In another embodiment, the invention includes the generation of a rendering frame containing a mannequin wearing a particular garment from a collision and draping simulation and the further addition of garment constraints corresponding to particular predefined shells around the mannequin that mimic the way the garment behaves when worn with another particular garment. These garment constraints are defined so as to conform to various dressing conventions or rules relating to how clothes are worn, e.g., the wearing of a coat over a shirt. Rendering frames corresponding to different versions of a garment may thus be produced, where the information contained within separately generated rendering frames corresponding to particular versions of garments can then be used to produce a composite image of the garments worn in combination. For example, images can be rendered separately from each such rendering frame and layered upon one another in an appropriate order, or a composite image can be rendered using the depth information contained in each rendering frame. In this way, mixing and matching of garments on a mannequin is facilitated.

[0007]Another embodiment of the invention relates to a computerized dressing environment for displaying a selected garment worn by a selected mannequin in which garment images rendered from a three-dimensional simulation scene are stored in a repository and displayed in accordance with user inputs. The garment images include images of a plurality of garments, including versions of garments, and renderings of each garment from a plurality of viewpoints so as to provide a three-dimensional experience to the user. In order to display a selected mannequin wearing selected multiple garments, garment images corresponding to particular versions are selected in accordance with versioning rules by a versioning rule interpreter. The appropriate garment images are then layered upon an image of a selected mannequin to create a composite image. The layering order of the garment images is dictated by compositing rules derived from dressing conventions. Another embodiment of the invention relates to a method for efficiently populating such a garment image repository with garment images by using the methods described above.

Problems solved by technology

The massive amount of computation required to perform a collision and draping simulation for any particular mannequin and garment, however, makes three-dimensional modeling an impractical way by itself in most commonly available computing environments to generate the multiple images of different mannequins and garments needed to implement a dressing environment.

Images