Patent Application
20240315638
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of cosmetic procedures and, more specific, to a method and an apparatus for demonstrating the effect of a cosmetic procedure.
A cosmetic surgery may be performed to enhance overall cosmetic appearance of a subject by reshaping and adjusting normal anatomy to make it visually more appealing.
Different types of cosmetic surgeries exist. One of the procedures relates to Injectables. Injectables such as Dermal Fillers or Neuromodulators may be used to reduce the visibility of skin folds, wrinkles or change the contours or surface structure of the skin. The end result of such treatment is a smoother or younger looking skin.
Another procedure relates to a so-called facelift. A facelifts may repair sagging, loose, drooping, or wrinkled skin on the face of subject. During this procedure, facial tissues may be lifted, excess skin removed, and skin replaced over repositioned contours. Neck lifts may also be performed in conjunction with facelifts. Other procedures with respect to facelifts include nose reshaping, forehead lifts, or eyelid surgery, as an example.
These kinds of cosmetic procedures may have a very noticeable effect, but may also have a subtle effect. Or at least an effect that may not be very noticeable in all kinds of different object observation and illumination scenarios.
Following the above, it is sometimes difficult to demonstrate the effect of such a cosmetic procedure.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide for a method for efficiently demonstrating the effect of a cosmetic procedure on a subject.
In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of demonstrating an effect of a cosmetic procedure on a subject, by using an analysing apparatus, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
In accordance with the present disclosure, providing lighting to the subject may include the location of the lighting relative to the subject. This would have the effect that light may be incoming from the left hand side, from the right hand side, from the top hand side, from the bottom hand side, or any other direction. This may also include the colour of the light. The inventors have found that it may be desirable to include different colours as some cosmetic procedures may be best demonstrated under a particular colour light. Another option is the type of lighting source, for example a beam directional lighting source, a so-called point lighting source, a regular lighting source like a 230V lamp or dedicated Light Emitting Diodes, LEDs, or anything alike.
The subject is typically a human being, for example a man or a woman. The present disclosure is not limited to a particular are of the subject, but, in most cases, the cosmetic procedures are performed somewhere on the head of the subject. For example the face.
The present disclosure defines that at least three photos are taken from the subject, wherein for each photo a different lighting setting is used. That is, the light may be placed or oriented differently with respect to the subject, or a different kind of colour of lighting is used or anything alike. The inventors have found that at least three different photos with different lighting settings are required for reliably determining the three dimensional meta data of a resulting image as will be described in more detail later below.
In a next step, the image having three dimensional based meta data is created. The final image may thus resemble the previously taken images. However, the meta data is new and allows the image to be viewed with different lighting settings. There is no need to construe a full 3D image of the subject, it is sufficient to construe the three dimensional based meta data, as the meta data is sufficient for accurately resembling the image in different types of lighting.
The plurality of normals of the subject may be considered as the curvature of the subject. It may resemble how the subject is deformed in space. This may help in aiding the determination of how particular light will reflect from the skin. In an example, normals are calculated for each pixel of the image such that very detailed information of the subject is made available. Normals may also be calculated for other area sized, for example 3×3 pixels, or 5×5 pixels or 10×10 pixels or anything alike.
Further, a skin model is implemented, and a colour value and a shining value of the skin of the subject may be entered into the skin model. The skin model may also be used for determining, for example, the shining aspects of the skin, the reflection of the skin or anything alike—for different lighting scenarios.
Finally, the effect of the cosmetic procedure may be demonstrated by providing the image having three dimensional based meta data in a virtual environment. The environment may, for example, be viewed on a display screen like a monitor, television or tablet.
Demonstrating may mean highlighting the specific cosmetic procedure, or indicating a difference in the appearance of the specific cosmetic procedure in different lighting or anything alike.
In an example, the method further comprises the step of receiving, by said analysing apparatus, said colour and shining value of said skin of said subject.
The analysing apparatus may comprise a receiving unit arranged for receiving the colour and shining value of the skin of the subject. A physician may, for example, input these values into the analysing apparatus via the corresponding receiving unit.
In a further example, the subject is a face of a human being. Other options may include other parts of the human being.
In yet another example, the step of taking at least three photos comprises taking at least six photos of said subject.
In a further example, the method comprises the step of providing a three dimensional measurement of said subject using a three dimensional measurement system, and wherein said three dimensional based meta data that is created in said step of creating, is further determined based on said provided three dimensional measurement.
In a further example, the different lighting setting comprises any of:
In a further example, the step of taking at least three photos of said subject comprises any of:
In a preferred example, the subject may not move too much when taking the different photo's. This improves the process of calculating the normals. The subject should, preferably, stay as static as possible during the photo taking process.
In a further example, method further comprises the step of:
The inventors have found that translucency information may be taking into account as well when determining the properties that light has on the skin of a subject, for example reflection, shining and absorption properties.
In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an analysing apparatus for demonstrating an effect of a cosmetic procedure on a subject, wherein said analysing apparatus comprises:
It is noted that the advantages as explained with respect to the A method of demonstrating an effect of a cosmetic procedure are also applicable to the analysing apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure.
In an example, the apparatus further comprises:
In a further example, the subject is a face of a human being.
In another example, the camera unit is further arranged for taking at least three photos comprises taking at least six photos of said subject.
In an example, the apparatus further comprises:
In a further example, wherein the different lighting setting comprises any of:
In yet another example, the camera unit is further arranged for any of:
In an even further example, the analysing apparatus comprises receiving equipment arranged for receiving translucency information of said skin of said subject, and wherein said three dimensional based meta data that is created by said processing unit, is further determined based on said received translucency information.
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiment(s) described hereinafter.
Like parts are indicated by the same reference signs in the various figures.
Each feature disclosed with reference to the figure can also be combined with another feature disclosed in this disclosure including the claims, unless it is evident for a person skilled in the art that these features are incompatible.
The device 1 is a portable device comprising a base mount 3 to be placed on a support (not shown), for example a table. The device 1 comprises a casing 5 having an endless edge 6 defining an opening for a face to be imaged. In the interior of the casing 5 various light sources 7, like Light Emitting Diode LED based light sources, reflectors 9, and a mirror 11 may be arranged.
The light sources 7 may be used, for example in combination with the reflectors 9 and the mirror 11, to provide lighting to the face using a particular lighting setting. The lighting setting is aimed at, for example, the colour of light and, more particularly, the orientation of the light. That is, the direction of the light towards the subject. The orientation and/or the direction of the light may be controlled by directly amending the light sources 7, but may also be controlled by amending the mirror 11 or reflectors 9, for example.
The device 1 may be provided with a light shield (not shown) connected or to be connected to the casing 5 to be positioned in use around a person's head for blocking environmental light. As shown in more detail in
The device 1 further comprises a viewing opening/hole 19 positioned near the central sensor 15a for a camera. The camera may be a camera of a tablet computer 21. The face imaging device 1 may also comprise a fixed camera (not shown). The device 1 may further comprise a camera holding unit 23 (
The camera is thus arranged to take at least three photos of the subject, for example after the cosmetic procedure has been performed on the subject, wherein for each of the at least three photos a different lighting setting is used. A different lighting setting is used for being able to efficiently provide the three dimensional meta data.
The face imaging device 1 for taking images of a face of a person may also be configured for obtaining an image of the face of the person with standardized face positioning and/or for obtaining at least a first image of the face and at least a second image of the same face for comparison, for example to compare the effects of a skin treatment performed on the face between the at least one first and the at least one second image, preferably the first and second image are taken under substantially identical conditions, for example substantially identical light conditions. At least one of the sensors 15a-c determines a face orientation of the face as shown in
The face imaging device 1 may further comprises a processing unit arranged for creating an image having three dimensional based meta data, wherein the three dimensional based meta data is determined by calculating a plurality of normals of the subject, i.e. face, using at least three photos, thereby obtaining curvature information of the subject and by implementing a skin model, wherein the skin model is based on a colour and a shining value of the skin of the subject.
The inventors have found that the normal information of the skin as well as the so-defined shining value of the skin may aid in the process of determining the effect of the cosmetic procedure. These aspects allow an image to be created with three dimensional based meta data, wherein the meta data may be used to accurately display the image in different lighting settings.
Following the above, it is thus not necessary, in accordance with the prior art, to take photos of the subject with all possible lighting settings. The photos are used to curvature information with respect to the image, and the curvature information is used when the lighting setting is amended in the virtual environment. So, even though particular lighting settings have not been used when taking the photos, initially, the obtained meta data may be used for accurately displaying the subject in the lighting setting so desired.
As shown in
The display 35, 37, 39 is configured to show at least two associated symbols/lines 41, 43, representing at least one degree of freedom of the head of the person, wherein one 41 of the two associated symbols corresponds to the at least one degree of freedom of the desired face orientation and the other 43 of the two associated symbols corresponds to the at least one degree of freedom of the actual face orientation determined by at least one of the sensor 15a-c. By moving his/her head between positions as shown in
The display 35, 37, 39 may thus be configured to provide the image having the three dimensional based meta data in a virtual environment, by differentiating in light provided in the virtual environment to the image having the three dimensional based meta data.
The device 1 further comprises a processor 29 (
The processor 29 may be configured to communicate with the camera of the tablet computer 21 to instruct the camera to automatically take the image if the face orientation of the face determined by the at least one sensor corresponds to the desired face orientation of the face. Further, by automatically obtaining the second image, the face imaging device 1 itself provides the image of the face without the risk that an operator or the person himself makes an image which has a different face orientation than the desired face orientation.
The processer 29 may thus be arranged, in cooperation with any other component in the device 1, to determined or create the image having the three dimensional based meta data.
In the embodiment of the device and the display 35 as shown in
The method 101 is directed to demonstrating an effect of a cosmetic procedure on a subject, by using an analysing apparatus, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word “Comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.
Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope thereof.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2028519 | Jun 2021 | NL | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/NL2022/050359 | 6/22/2022 | WO |
