Color Arrangement Changing Unit for Image Visibility Restoration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image creating apparatuses cannot restore the original image from a changed image printed on a recording medium, limiting their functionality in improving visibility for colorblind individuals while maintaining the ability to revert to the original image.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus includes a color arrangement changing unit that alters the color of difficult-to-recognize objects to improve visibility by embedding information about the representative color as dots, and a color arrangement restoring unit that reads these dots to revert the image back to its original state.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the color arrangement is changed to improve visibility for colorblind individuals, then the visibility is improved, but the ability to restore the original image is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by embedding color information into the changed image before any potential restoration is needed. The color arrangement changing unit embeds representative color information of difficult-to-recognize objects into the changed image, so that when restoration is required, the original color information is already available in the changed image itself, eliminating the need to retain the original draft.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating a modified version of the original image that contains both the improved visibility characteristics and the embedded original color information. The color arrangement changing unit generates a changed image that is a copy of the original but with modified color arrangements and embedded color data, allowing restoration without the original draft.
2Reliability
If the original draft is retained to restore the original image, then the original image can be restored, but the burden of managing the original draft increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by removing the requirement to retain the original draft. The color arrangement changing unit extracts and embeds only the necessary color information (representative colors of difficult-to-recognize objects) into the changed image, allowing restoration to be performed using only the changed image without needing to manage or store the original draft.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service by making the changed image self-sufficient for restoration purposes. The embedded color information within the changed image allows the color arrangement restoring unit to restore the original image independently, without requiring external reference to the original draft or additional storage of the original file.
3Loss of information
If color information is embedded as dots in the changed image, then the original image can be restored from the changed image, but the complexity of the image processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by embedding color information only in specific locations where needed - specifically in the vicinity of difficult-to-recognize objects. The color arrangement changing unit identifies difficult-to-recognize objects and embeds their representative color information locally near those objects, rather than processing or embedding information globally across the entire image, thus reducing overall processing complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
An image creating apparatus has a printing device configured to print a changed image on a recording medium; a difficult-to-recognize color arrangement storage unit configured to store a difficult-to-recognize color arrangement that is difficult to visually recognize; an object extracting unit configured to extract objects from an original image; a difficult-to-recognize object detecting unit configured to detect a difficult-to-recognize object; a representative color obtaining unit configured to obtain the representative color of the difficult-to-recognize object; a color arrangement changing unit configured to (i) change the color arrangement of the image so that the color arrangement of the periphery is changed from the difficult-to-recognize color arrangement in at least part of the difficult-to-recognize object and (ii) embed information about the representative color as dots; and a changed image printing unit configured to command the printing device to print the changed image with the changed color arrangement.