HP Labs announces mobile imaging technology

Takes the guess work out of matching colours

11 July 2007 14:39 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

HP has revealed a new colour matching technology that could change the way people shop for products that require colour coordination.

HP Labs has developed a technology that uses sophisticated imaging algorithms and mobile networking to match colours that complement one another.

Retailers, consumer goods and other companies that require a high level of colour or image coordination could implement the technology to offer services that help their customers select the right products for their needs.

The example HP provides of how this works is with cosmetics and matching make-up to skin tones.

So a shopper could photograph herself using a mobile phone camera while holding a specially designed colour chart.

The person then sends the photo as an MMS to an advisory service.

That system locates the person's face within the image and colour corrects the image for camera and lighting discrepancies.

Skin pixels are extracted from the colour corrected image of the person's face, and then compared to an existing database of previously captured and analyzed images of skin tones of real people.

In a matter of seconds, the person receives a text message response with a recommendation on the shades of make-up that are best suited to their complexion.

The technology can work with any mobile operator and on any mobile phone equipped with a camera.

HP is actively seeking to partner with retailers and consumer goods companies to make the technology available to consumers, more info via the link below.

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