Layered Personalization

Abstract

A computer system includes a three-dimensional model of an object such as a piece of jewelry. The model is divided into multiple layers, each of which contains one or more components of the object. Each layer is associated with one or more attribute types, each of which is associated with a corresponding plurality of possible attribute values. The system pre-renders each layer with each possible attribute type and each possible attribute value for that type and layer. The resulting layer renderings may be combined with each other to produce personalized renderings of the entire object without the need to pre-render all possible combinations of attribute values. Responsibility for rendering the layers and the final complete object personalization may be divided between client and server in a variety of ways to increase efficiency.

1 . A method performed by at least one computer processor executing computer-readable computer program instructions tangibly stored on a first non-transitory computer-readable medium, the method for use with a three-dimensional computer model of an object, the model comprising a plurality of layers L, each of the plurality of layers comprising at least one corresponding component in the model, each of the plurality of layers being associated with at least one attribute, the method comprising:
 (A) rendering each of the plurality of layers L with each of a plurality of values A of the at least one attribute to produce a plurality of layer renderings, comprising:
 (A)(1) entering a first loop over each of the plurality of layers L; 
 (A)(2) entering a second loop over each of the plurality of values A of the at least one attribute; and 
 (A)(3) for each particular layer within the plurality of layers L and for each particular attribute value with the plurality of attribute values A, applying the particular attribute value to the particular layer to produce a rendering of the particular layer; 
   (B) storing the plurality of layer renderings on a second non-transitory computer-readable medium;   (C) receiving a first request for a first rendering of a personalized object specifying a plurality of attribute values;   (D) selecting, from among the plurality of stored layer renderings, a subset of layer renderings corresponding to the specified plurality of attribute values; and   (E) combining the selected subset of layer renderings to produce the first rendering of the personalized object.