Bits: http://numinous.com/
NTI has licensed and is now developing and marketing commercial
versions of two technologies invented at the University of
Washington.
1. Multiresolution image querying
This technology provides a new way to search or browse through
large
image databases at high speed. In this invention, the query is
expressed
either as a low-resolution image from a scanner or video camera
or as a
rough sketch painted by the user. The searching algorithm makes
use of
multiresolution (wavelet) decompositions of the query and
database
images. The method is both effective and fast.
Product backgrounder
2. Color-matched duotones
This is a new approach for reproducing color images (patent
pending).
Rather than mapping the colors in an image onto the gamut of
colors that
can be printed with cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks, the
system
chooses the best set of printing inks for the particular image
being
reproduced.
The first version of this technology looks at the special case of
selecting
inks for duotone printing, a relatively inexpensive process in
which just
two inks are used. Specifically, the system takes an image as
input, and
allows a user to select 0, 1, or 2 inks. It then chooses the
remaining ink or
inks so as to reproduce the image as accurately as possible and
produces
the appropriate color separations automatically.
The system can also accommodate the incorporation of black ink
and the
color of the paper the image will be printed on.