Foundation Shade Recommendation Using Skin Tone Image Analysis

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing online shopping methods for products requiring accurate color matching, such as foundations, often fail to accurately represent the real shade of the product, leading to customer dissatisfaction.

Innovation Solution

A computer-implemented method and electronic device that analyze an image to identify skin tone by correcting color balance, extracting relevant facial regions, and generating a skin tone profile using clustering and weighting techniques, then recommend complementary foundation products based on a database of foundation colors.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If online shopping is used for foundation products, then convenience and market reach are improved, but color matching accuracy deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveconvenience of online shoppingVSAvoidcolor matching accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary color balance correction and skin tone analysis before product recommendation. By pre-processing the image data to establish accurate skin tone profiles and correcting color balance using reference objects, the system ensures that the foundation color matching is accurate from the outset, resolving the contradiction between online shopping convenience and color matching precision.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces intermediary elements including color reference objects (such as gray cards or colored cards) and computational algorithms that act as mediators between the customer's skin tone and the foundation products. These intermediaries enable accurate color transfer and matching, allowing online shopping to maintain both convenience and color matching accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Loss of information

If product images are used for color representation, then product information is provided, but color accuracy deteriorates due to depiction not representing real shade

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveproduct information provisionVSAvoidcolor representation accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system replaces reliance on static product images with a dynamic computational color analysis system. Instead of depending on potentially inaccurate product photographs, the system uses image processing algorithms, color space transformations, and mathematical models to objectively determine and match colors, eliminating the color accuracy problems associated with product image depiction.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Productivity

If simple color comparison is used, then processing speed is improved, but matching accuracy deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprocessing speedVSAvoidcolor matching accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions including image preprocessing, color balance correction, and skin tone profile generation before the actual color matching step. By preparing standardized color representations and reference profiles in advance, the system enables subsequent rapid comparison operations that maintain both high processing speed and high matching accuracy through efficient algorithms and pre-processed data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4118623B1Recommending a foundation product from an image

Publication Date: 2026.02.25 THE HUT COM LTD

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AI summary

The application relates to a method, an electronic device and a program for recommending a foundation product from.