Color design assistance device, color design assistance method, program, paint blend creation method, and paint manufacturing method

Abstract

This color design assistance device comprises: a control unit that executes a color candidate estimation process for estimating color candidates that can be selected for use by a color design on the basis of target attribute information indicating attributes of a target of the color design and user attribute information indicating attributes of a user who uses the target of the color design; and an output unit that outputs the candidates estimated by the color candidate estimation process.

Description

Color design support device, color design support method, program, paint formulation creation method, and paint manufacturing method

[0001] The present invention relates to a color design support device, a color design support method, a program, a paint formulation creation method, and a paint manufacturing method. This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-035544, filed on March 8, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] When designing the color of an automobile or other vehicle, the design value of the color must be taken into consideration. The value of a color design is usually measured by the designer's sense and know-how. However, the value of a design cannot be measured without the help of an expert designer, and it is not easy to measure the value of a design.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-118444

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for supporting color design.

[0005] One aspect of the present invention is a color design support device that includes a control unit that executes a color candidate estimation process to estimate color candidates that may be determined to be used in the color design based on object attribute information that indicates the attributes of a color design object and user attribute information that indicates the attributes of a user who will use the color design object, and an output unit that outputs the candidates estimated by the color candidate estimation process.

[0006] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique for supporting color design.

[0007] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an overview of a color design support device of a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating processing by the color design support device. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of object-dependent preference information. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of user-dependent preference information. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a color design support device in an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of processing executed by a color design support device of an embodiment. FIG. 7 is an example of display by the color design support device of the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is an example of display by the color design support device of a second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a paint blend creation device and a paint manufacturing device.

[0008] (First embodiment) (Color design support device) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an overview of a color design support device 10 of the first embodiment. The color design support device 10 includes a control unit 11 including a processor 91 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) or NPU (Neural Network Processing Unit), and a memory 92, which are connected via a bus.

[0009] The control unit 11 executes, for example, an information acquisition process and a color candidate estimation process.

[0010] (Information Acquisition Process) The information acquisition process is a process for acquiring information used in the color candidate estimation process. The information acquired by the information acquisition process includes object attribute information indicating the attributes of the color design object and user attribute information indicating the attributes of the user who will use the color design object. The color design object is not particularly limited, and examples include automobiles, automobile parts, motorcycles, railroad cars, home appliances, information terminals, and buildings, with automobiles being particularly suitable. When the color design object is an automobile, an attribute of the color design object is, for example, the body type of the automobile. Examples of automobile body types include SUVs, sedans, sports cars, compact cars, luxury cars, and family cars. When the color design object is an automobile, the user who will use the color design object is the user of the automobile. The user attributes include, for example, at least one of the country in which the user will use the color design object, the user's gender, and the user's age. In the present invention, the users who will use the color design object are typically multiple people, preferably 100 or more people, and more preferably 1,000 or more people. Therefore, the user attribute information is attribute information of multiple people, not of an individual.

[0011] (Color candidate estimation process) The color candidate estimation process is a process of estimating color candidates (hereinafter referred to as "color candidates") that may be determined to be used in the color design of a color design target. Color candidates are, for example, colors that are suitable as colors for the color design target. The color candidate estimation process is a process of estimating color candidates based on object attribute information and user attribute information. Figure 2 is a diagram showing the process by the color design support device 10. The color design support device 10 acquires object attribute information and user attribute information, and estimates color candidates based on the object attribute information and user attribute information. A color is, for example, a combination of hue and brilliance level. The brilliance level is an index that indicates differences in brilliance.

[0012] The color candidate estimation process estimates color candidates based on, for example, object attribute information, information indicating the relationship between the attributes of the color design object and the colors of the color design object, user attribute information, and information indicating the relationship between the user's attributes and the colors of the color design object. The information indicating the relationship between the attributes of the color design object and the colors of the color design object is, for example, object-dependent preference information indicating color preferences according to the attributes of the color design object. The information indicating the relationship between the user's attributes and the colors of the color design object is user-dependent preference information indicating color preferences according to the user's attributes.

[0013] The object-dependent preference information indicates, for example, the degree to which each color is preferred for a specific color design object or its attributes. The object-dependent preference information indicates, for example, the degree of preference using a score (hereinafter referred to as an "object-dependent score"). The object-dependent score is determined, for example, by the number of colors produced, which varies depending on the attributes of the color design object or the combination of the hue and brilliance level of the color design object. In the object-dependent preference information, for example, for each attribute of the color design object, the object-dependent score of a color that has not been produced indicates the lowest value. In the object-dependent preference information, the object-dependent score may be normalized. The object-dependent score is normalized to a value between 0.8 and 1.2, for example. Note that the value between 0.8 and 1.2 is based on the idea in social psychology that a 20% change is the limit. The object-dependent score may be adjusted as appropriate based on the designer's intuition.

[0014] Figure 3 shows an example of object-dependent preference information. In this example, the color design target is an automobile, and the attribute of the color design target is the body type of the automobile in a specific country. In this example, the body type of the automobile is a compact car. Figure 3 shows object-dependent scores corresponding to the hue (e.g., white, gray, etc.) and glitter level (L, M, S, T) of the body type color. The glitter levels L, M, and S (with glitter) indicate the difference between highlights and shades, with the difference increasing in order from L to M. T indicates a solid glitter level (without glitter). While the color hues in Figure 3 and Figure 4 (described below) are examples, red can also be further divided into dark, pale (a pale color close to white), and medium (a color between dark and pale). Glazing is a scaly or plate-like pigment that imparts a sparkling sheen or optical coherence to the paint film. Examples of the luster pigment include flaky aluminum, vapor-deposited aluminum, aluminum oxide, oxybismuth chloride, mica, titanium oxide-coated mica, iron oxide-coated mica, micaceous iron oxide, titanium oxide-coated silica, titanium oxide-coated alumina, iron oxide-coated silica, iron oxide-coated alumina, glass flakes, colored glass flakes, vapor-deposited glass flakes, and hologram film. The color candidates estimated in the color candidate estimation process by the color design support device 10 of this embodiment are preferably colors containing luster pigments, and preferably have a difference in brightness between the highlights and shades. Note that "highlight" refers to observing the coating film to be color-designed near specular reflection light, and "shade" refers to observing the coating film at an angle that is not affected by specular reflection light.

[0015] The object-dependent score is determined by the number of colors produced for each automobile vehicle. In the example shown in Figure 3, the object-dependent score is set to a minimum value of 0.8 if the color is not in the color lineup, and is set to a value between 1.0 and 1.2 if the color is in the color lineup based on the number of colors produced. In the example shown in Figure 3, the production numbers are normalized so that the object-dependent score of the color of an automobile vehicle with a color lineup and the lowest number of colors produced is 1.0, and the object-dependent score of the color of an automobile vehicle with the highest number of colors produced is 1.2.

[0016] The user-dependent preference information indicates, for example, the degree to which a color of the color design target is preferred by a user of the attribute indicated by the user attribute information for a specified attribute. The user-dependent preference information indicates, for example, the degree to which the color is preferred by the user using a score (hereinafter referred to as a "user-dependent score"). The user-dependent score is determined, for example, by a color preference survey by country, age, or gender. A user-dependent score not determined by a preference survey may be determined artificially based on the user-dependent scores of related colors or the designer's intuition. In the user-dependent preference information, the user-dependent score may be normalized. The user-dependent score is normalized to a value between 0.8 and 1.2, for example, for the same reasons as the target score.

[0017] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of user-dependent preference information. FIG. 4 is an example showing user-dependent scores corresponding to color hues (e.g., white, gray) and brilliance levels (L, M, S, T) in a specific country. The brilliance levels L, M, and S (with brilliance material) indicate the difference between highlights and shades, with the difference increasing in the order of L, M, and S. T indicates a solid brilliance level (without brilliance material). In the example of user-dependent scores shown in FIG. 4, user-dependent scores with a white background were determined by a color preference survey, while user-dependent scores with a gray background were determined artificially by a designer due to the lack of preference survey results or a small sample size.

[0018] The color candidate estimation process estimates color candidates based on, for example, an object-dependent score and a user-dependent score. The color candidate estimation process estimates, for example, a color whose object-dependent score and user-dependent score are each equal to or greater than a predetermined value as a color candidate. The color candidate estimation process may estimate, for example, a color whose value calculated from the object-dependent score and user-dependent score is equal to or greater than a predetermined value as a color candidate. The value calculated from the object-dependent score and user-dependent score is, for example, an average value, a maximum value, or a minimum value.

[0019] As described above, the color design support device 10 of the first embodiment can estimate color candidates based on the object attribute information and the user attribute information. A person who designs a color can perform a color design based on the estimated color candidates.

[0020] The control unit 11 may acquire color information through information acquisition processing, and perform score calculation processing to calculate an object-dependent score and / or a user-dependent score of the color indicated by the acquired color information.

[0021] <Example of Hardware Configuration of Color Design Support Device 10> Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the color design support device 10 in an embodiment. The color design support device 10 has a control unit 11 including a processor 91 and a memory 92 connected by a bus, and executes a program. By executing the program, the color design support device 10 functions as a device including the control unit 11, an interface unit 12, and a storage unit 13.

[0022] More specifically, the processor 91 reads out a program stored in the storage unit 13 and stores the read program in the memory 92. The processor 91 executes the program stored in the memory 92, causing the color design support device 10 to function as a device including the control unit 11, the interface unit 12, and the storage unit 13.

[0023] The control unit 11 controls the operation of each functional unit included in the color design support device 10. The control unit 11, for example, acquires information stored in the memory unit 13. The process of acquiring information stored in the memory unit 13 is specifically reading. The control unit 11 may, for example, output various information to the memory unit 13. The memory unit 13 records the information output to the memory unit 13. The control unit 11, for example, acquires information acquired by the interface unit 12. The control unit 11 controls, for example, the interface unit 12 to transmit the information to be transmitted to the destination.

[0024] The control unit 11 executes, for example, an information acquisition process and a color candidate estimation process.

[0025] The interface unit 12 includes a communication interface for connecting the color design support device 10 to an external device. The interface unit 12 communicates with the external device via wired or wireless communication. The external device is, for example, a device that transmits network information. The interface unit 12 acquires network information by communicating with the device that transmits the network information.

[0026] The interface unit 12 may be configured to include input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, or touch panel. The interface unit 12 may be configured as an interface that connects these input devices to the color design support device 10. In this way, the input devices of the interface unit 12 accept input of various information to the color design support device 10 via wired or wireless connections. Note that various information such as network information does not necessarily have to be input to the communication interface of the interface unit 12, but may be input to the input devices of the interface unit 12. When various information is input to the input devices of the interface unit 12, the interface unit 12 does not have to be configured to be able to communicate with external devices.

[0027] The interface unit 12 outputs, for example, various types of information. The interface unit 12 includes a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, and a speaker. The interface unit 12 may be configured as an interface that connects these display devices or speakers to the color design assistance device 10. Therefore, the display device and speaker included in the interface unit 12 output, for example, information input to an input device of the interface unit 12 as an image or sound.

[0028] The control unit 11 may, for example, control the operation of a display device or speaker that constitutes the interface unit 12 to output the estimated color candidates, the object-dependent score of each color, and the user-dependent score.

[0029] The storage unit 13 is configured using a computer-readable storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) such as a magnetic hard disk drive or a semiconductor storage device. The storage unit 13 stores various information related to the color design support device 10. The storage unit 13 stores various information generated by the operation of the control unit 11, such as estimated color candidates. The storage unit 13 may exist on a cloud, for example.

[0030] 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the color design support device 10 according to the embodiment. The control unit 11 executes an information acquisition process to acquire information used to estimate color candidates (step S11). The control unit 11 executes a color candidate estimation process to estimate color candidates (step S12). The control unit 11 outputs the color candidates to a predetermined output destination (step S13). The predetermined output destination is, for example, a display device or speaker constituting the interface unit 12.

[0031] FIG. 7 is an example of a display by the color design support device 10 of the first embodiment. The example shown in FIG. 7 shows the user-dependent score and object-dependent score of a certain color (hue) when SEDAN (sedan) is input as object attribute information and JAPAN, the country in which the user will use the color design object, is input as user attribute information. The user-dependent score and object-dependent score are judged and displayed as FINE, GOOD, or NORMAL, as the values ​​become larger. The person designing the color can check the object-dependent score and user-dependent score displayed for each color (hue) and decide on a color (hue) based on the checked results.

[0032] Second Embodiment The second embodiment will be described below. In the second embodiment, the color candidate estimation process of the control unit 11 estimates color candidates based on object attribute information, information indicating the relationship between the attributes of the color design object and the colors of the color design object, user attribute information, information indicating the relationship between the user's attributes and the colors of the color design object, and information indicating the trend color selected by the user for the color design object (hereinafter referred to as "trend information"). The trend information indicates the degree of similarity between the colors of the color design object and the trend color. The trend information indicates different scores when the colors of the color design object and the trend color are similar and when the colors of the color design object and the trend color are not similar. Hereinafter, this score will be referred to as the "trend score." The trend score of a color of the color design object that is not similar to the trend color may be set to be greater than the minimum of the object-dependent score and the user-dependent score. This is because it is difficult to identify colors that are not similar to the trend color. In one example of trend information, the trend score of a color of a color design target that is similar to the trend color is set to 1.2, and the trend score of a color of a color design target that is not similar to the trend color is set to 1.0.

[0033] When the object of color design is an automobile or vehicle, the color that appears varies depending on the angle. Therefore, the color that appears from a certain angle may be used as the color of the object of color design. The similarity between the color of the object of color design and the trend color is determined, for example, by the color difference ΔE2000 between the color and the trend color. If ΔE2000 is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the color and the trend color are determined to be similar, and if ΔE2000 is greater than the predetermined value, the color and the trend color are determined to be dissimilar. The similarity between the object of color design and the trend color is determined, for example, by the hue difference between the color and the trend color. If the hue difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the color and the trend color are determined to be similar, and if the hue difference is greater than the predetermined value, the color and the trend color are determined to be dissimilar.

[0034] When it is determined that the hue and the trend color are similar in one or more of the determination based on the color difference ΔE2000 and the determination based on the hue difference, it may be determined that the hue and the trend color are similar.When it is determined that the hue and the trend color are similar in the determination based on the color difference ΔE2000 and the determination based on the hue difference, it may be determined that the hue and the trend color are similar.

[0035] The color candidate estimation process estimates color candidates based on, for example, an object-dependent score, a user-dependent score, and a trend score. The color candidate estimation process estimates, for example, a color whose object-dependent score, user-dependent score, and trend score are each equal to or greater than a predetermined value as a color candidate. The color candidate estimation process estimates, for example, a color whose value calculated from the object-dependent score, user-dependent score, and trend score is equal to or greater than a predetermined value as a color candidate. The values ​​calculated from the object-dependent score, user-dependent score, and trend score are, for example, an average value, a maximum value, and a minimum value.

[0036] FIG. 8 is an example of a display by the color design support device 10 of the second embodiment. The example shown in FIG. 8 shows the user-dependent score, object-dependent score, and trend score of a certain color (hue) when SEDAN (sedan) is input as object attribute information and JAPAN, the country in which the user will use the color design object, is input as user attribute information. As with the first embodiment, the trend score is displayed as FINE, GOOD, or NORMAL, depending on the value. The person performing color design can check the object-dependent score, user-dependent score, and trend score displayed for each color (hue) and determine the color (hue) based on the checked results.

[0037] As described above, the color design support device 10 of the second embodiment can estimate color candidates based on the target attribute information and user attribute information, taking trends into consideration. In the first and second embodiments, for example, in the case of an automobile vehicle, for one body type for which the target attribute information and user attribute information have been selected, at least one color candidate, and preferably multiple color candidates, are selected by the user of the color design support device 10 based on the color candidates estimated by the color design support device.

[0038] (Paint blend creation device / paint manufacturing device) Figure 9 is a diagram showing the paint blend creation device 20 and the paint manufacturing device 30. The paint blend creation device 20 receives estimated color candidates from the color design support device 10. Based on the color candidates, the paint blend creation device 20 creates information indicating paint blends for creating the color candidates. Based on data on colors and paint blends for creating those colors, the paint blend creation device 20 creates information indicating paint blends for creating the color candidates. The paint blend creation device 20 outputs the information indicating the created paint blends to the paint manufacturing device 30.

[0039] Information indicating the paint formulation is input to the paint manufacturing device 30 from the paint formulation creation device 20. The paint manufacturing device 30 manufactures paint with the formulation indicated by the information indicating the paint formulation. The paint manufacturing device 30 is equipped with predetermined paints and manufactures paint by blending the prepared paints to achieve the paint formulation indicated by the input information. The above-mentioned "creation step of creating information indicating the paint formulation from color candidates estimated by the color design support device" and "manufacturing step of manufacturing paint with the formulation indicated by the information indicating the paint formulation" can be performed in the same manner as, for example, the invention described in JP 2021-107781 A (obtaining formulation composition data from target color data and manufacturing actual candidate paints).

[0040] Other Embodiments One embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to that described above, and various design changes and the like can be made within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

[0041] The color design support device 10 in the above-described embodiment may be partially or entirely implemented by a computer. In this case, a program for implementing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program may be loaded into a computer system and executed. Note that the term "computer system" as used herein includes an operating system (OS) and peripheral hardware. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, as well as storage devices such as hard disks built into computer systems. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" may also include media that dynamically store programs for a short period of time, such as communication lines used when transmitting programs via networks such as the Internet or telephone lines, and media that store programs for a fixed period of time, such as volatile memory within the computer systems that serve as servers or clients in such cases. The program may be for realizing part of the above-mentioned functions, or may be capable of realizing the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system, or may be realized using a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0042] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique for supporting color design.

[0043] 10... color design support device, 11... control unit, 12... interface unit, 13... storage unit

Claims

1. A color design support device comprising: a control unit that executes a color candidate estimation process to estimate color candidates that may be determined to be used in the color design based on object attribute information indicating the attributes of the color design object and user attribute information indicating the attributes of the user who will use the color design object; and an output unit that outputs the candidates estimated by the color candidate estimation process.

2. The color design support device of claim 1, wherein in the color candidate estimation process, the candidates are estimated based on object-dependent preference information indicating color preferences according to the attributes of the color design object and user-dependent preference information indicating color preferences according to the attributes of the user.

3. The color design support device according to claim 2, wherein the color candidate estimation process further estimates the candidates using information indicating trend colors for the color design target.

4. The color design support device according to claim 1, wherein the object of color design is an automobile vehicle, and the attribute of the object of color design is a body type of the automobile vehicle.

5. The color design support device according to claim 1, wherein the user attributes include at least one of the country in which the user uses the color design object, the user's gender, and the user's age.

6. A color design support method comprising: a control step of executing a color candidate estimation process to estimate color candidates that may be determined to be used in the color design based on object attribute information indicating the attributes of the color design object and user attribute information indicating the attributes of the user who will use the color design object; and an output step of outputting the candidates estimated by the color candidate estimation process.

7. A program for causing a computer to function as the color design support device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

8. A paint formulation creation method comprising: a creation step of creating information indicating a paint formulation based on information indicating candidates estimated by the color design support device described in any one of claims 1 to 5.

9. A paint manufacturing method comprising: a manufacturing step of manufacturing paint having the formulation indicated by the information indicating the paint formulation created by the paint formulation creation method according to claim 8.

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