WO2017061954A1

WO2017061954A1 - Method and system for an online space planning tool

Info

Publication number: WO2017061954A1
Application number: PCT/SG2016/050493
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christopher Guy HARRISON; Andrew James FALLOWS; Dani RAMADANI; William Handoko ANGGAKUSUMA; Nadeem RAFI
Original assignee: Singapore Valley Pte Ltd
Current assignee: Singapore Valley Pte Ltd
Priority date: 2015-10-06
Filing date: 2016-10-06
Publication date: 2017-04-13
Anticipated expiration: 2018-04-06

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and system for an online space planning tool. In particular, there is provided a method and system for two-dimensional (2D) representation and/or three-dimensional (3D) representation of hand drawn renditions of articles based on 2D-based software tools. The online space planning tool comprises an elevation wall and breach line feature, a zoning feature and a trace feature, in which each of these features and in combination thereof provides a 2D and/or 3D representation of hand drawn renditions of articles based on 2D-based software tools.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AN ONLINE SPACE PLANNING

TOOL

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and system for an online space planning tool, in particular, but not exclusively, to a method and system for two- dimensional (2D) representation and/or three-dimensional (3D) representation of hand drawn renditions of articles based on 2D-based software tools.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The following discussion of the background to the invention is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention. However, it should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgment or admission that any of the material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge in any jurisdiction as at the priority date of the application.

Online space planning tools or applications allow users to create, design and furnish floor plans over the internet with a web browser without having the need to install or download any software programmes, making it very convenient for users to use such applications. Existing online space planning applications are based on 2D technology or 3D technology and utilise computer generated images of articles such as furniture, home accessories and the like, either in strict 2D or 3D formats.

Online space planning applications based on 3D technology allow a user to fully view the area or floor plan being worked on within three-dimensional space, similar to real life. A 3D representation of articles such as the interior furnishing items of a home enables the designs of the items to appear more detailed and true-to-form, even though the images of these items are computer generated. However, the main disadvantage for applications adopting a 3D asset base is that it is extremely time consuming and expensive to process 3D assets over the web. Processing 3D assets over the web requires a great amount of computing power as they are usually large files which require extensive rendering.

On the other hand, online space planning applications based on 2D technology is able to overcome the aforementioned disadvantage because a 2D representation of such interior furnishing items does not require large files which necessitate extensive rendering, and hence processing 2D assets over the web would require a substantially lesser amount of computing power as compared to processing 3D assets over the web. However, such applications based on 2D technology have certain limitations that include the types of views of the floor plans and articles that are available to a user. Due to the inherent limitation of two-dimensional space, floor plans and articles can only be viewed from the top or from a bird's eye view (plan view). For example, a user would not be able to see how a mirror that is placed on a wall would look alongside a console or a sofa.

Therefore, the present invention seeks to overcome at least in part some of the aforementioned disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Throughout this document, unless otherwise indicated to the contrary, the terms "comprising", "consisting of", and the like, are to be construed as non-exhaustive, or in other words, as meaning "including, but not limited to". The present technology includes a method and system for an online space planning tool. In particular, there is provided a method and system for two- dimensional (2D) representation and/or three-dimensional (3D) representation of hand drawn renditions of articles based on 2D-based software tools. The online space planning tool comprises an elevation wall and breach line feature, a zoning feature and a trace feature, in which each of these features and in combination thereof provides a 2D and/or 3D representation of hand drawn renditions of articles based on 2D-based software tools.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for an online space planning tool, comprising: a space plan module for creating a space plan having at least one wall and at least one floor; a storage module for storing a plurality of images of articles for populating the space plan; and an elevation wall and breach line module, wherein the space plan module, the storage module and the elevation wall and breach line module interconnect and communicate with one another, and wherein the elevation wall and breach line module enables viewing of at least one article located on the wall in tandem with at least one article located on the floor of the space plan for providing two-dimensional representation and/or three-dimensional representation of the articles on the space plan.

Preferably, the system further comprises a zoning module interconnectable with the modules, the zoning module for extracting a desired space within the space plan for creating at least one variation of the desired space. Preferably, the system further comprises a tracing module interconnectable with the modules, the tracing module for importing a pre-determined space plan from an external source into the system.

Preferably, each image is in the form of a hand drawn rendition of each article. Preferably, each article is sketched in eight different angles.

Preferably, the front view, left view, right view, front-left view, front-right view, back view, back-left view and back-right view of each article is sketched.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for an online space planning tool, comprising: creating a space plan having at least one wall and at least one floor by a space plan module; populating the space plan with at least an image of an article, the plurality of images of articles being stored in a storage module; and viewing of at least one article located on the wall in tandem with at least one article located on the floor of the space plan by an elevation wall and breach line module, wherein the space plan module, the storage module and the elevation wall and breach line module interconnect and communicate with one another, for providing two-dimensional representation and/or three-dimensional representation of the articles on the space plan.

Preferably, the method further comprises extracting a desired space within the space plan for creating at least one variation of the desired space by a zoning module. Preferably, the method further comprises importing a pre-determined space plan from an external source into the system by a tracing module.

Preferably, each image is in the form of a hand drawn rendition of each article.

Preferably, each article is sketched in eight different angles.

Preferably, the front view, left view, right view, front-left view, front-right view, back view, back-left view and back-right view of each article is sketched. In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for an online space planning tool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings as appropriate.

In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for an online space planning tool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings as appropriate.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the ensuing description, which proceeds with reference to the following illustrative drawings of various embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described, by way of illustrative example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figures 1 A to 1 1 show an elevation wall and breach line feature of an online space planning tool in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figures 2A to 2K show a trace feature of an online space planning tool in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figures 3A to 3M show a zone feature of an online space planning tool in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figures 4 to 8 show the elevation wall and breach line feature of Figures 1 A to 1 1 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Figures 9 to 13 show the zone feature of Figures 3A to 3M in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. Figures 14 to 18 show the trace feature of Figures 2A to 2K in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Particular embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Additionally, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is described a method and system for an online space planning tool for two-dimensional (2D) representation and/or three-dimensional (3D) representation of hand drawn renditions of articles which includes furniture, home accessories and the like, based on 2D-based software tools. The online space planning tool allows users to create, design and furnish floor plans, including imported pre-created floor plans, over the internet with a web browser without having the need to install or download any software programmes, making it very convenient for users to use the tool.

It would be appreciated that many furniture, home accessories and the like, especially those with intricate carving details, can never be fully displayed or expressed if these items were represented by computer generated renditions, whether in a 2D or 3D format. A way to capture the design elements and artistic feel of such items is to represent them as hand drawn renditions in the online space planning tool. As such, preferably all representations (2D and/or 3D) of articles created for the online space planning tool are hand drawn renditions of the articles. This is advantageous, especially for designing floor plans with a twentieth-century theme, as representations based on such hand drawn renditions retain the look and feel of designs of articles inspired by the twentieth- century period.

The online space planning tool comprises a library or catalogue for storing and displaying the images of the articles. New articles can be added to the catalogue when desired.

The unique and advantageous features of an embodiment of the online space planning tool are as follows:

Hand drawn renditions of articles

Each article to be added to the catalogue is hand drawn (as opposed to a computer generated image) and sketched in eight different angles (front, left, right, front-left, front-right, back, back-left, back-right). An exception to this would be wall items and/or articles that are meant to be placed against the wall. There will not be any sketches for the back, back-left and back-right angles for such items. However, there will be sketches of the top-view of all articles. The various images created for each article enable the article to be rotatable 360 degrees about its longitudinal axis. With this functionality, an article can be placed at any desired position when designing or populating a floor plan with the article, providing a hybrid of both 2D and 3D representations of the article depending on the floor plan is viewed from the top or side. To provide various finishing options for an article, take for example a chair, additional set of sketches can be made for the chair. Such finishing options include different colours of the chair frame and different colours to represent the various types of fabric colours for the upholstery of the chair. Elevation Wall and Breach Line

The online space planning tool resolves the inherent limitation of existing applications based on 2D technology, where floor plans and articles can only be viewed from the top (plan view), by enabling viewing of articles on the wall in tandem with articles on the floor. In other words, both a plan view and a side elevation of a floor plan populated with articles can be displayed at the same time. This is advantageous as it provides a user with different perspectives of the floor plan at any one time.

With reference to Figures 1 A to 1 1, the terms "elevation wall" and "breach line" will be described using a floor plan with four walls as an example. Based on a plan view of a floor plan, when a wall of the floor plan is selected, two lines that run parallel to either side of the selected wall will be displayed and an icon tool tip will appear which states "view elevation wall". Clicking on the icon will then load the elevation wall view for the selected wall, which shows how the selected wall would look when viewed from the position of a vertical plane beside the wall. In order to generate a side elevation of items present on the plan view against the elevation wall, the line (on the side of the plan view) must be moved into the horizontal space of the desired item. This "breach" will trigger the visibility of the item on the elevation wall. Individual items can also be dragged into the occupying space of this line, which is also known as the breach line, and such items will appear on the elevation wall. Furthermore, any edits to the items such as the positioning, rotation, and even fabric or colour changes of the items are carried out in real-time across both plan view and elevation view, which gives rise to a 3D representation of the various articles that have been inserted in the floor plan.

Conversely, in order to generate a plan view of items present placed on the wall, the line or breach line (on the side of the elevation wall) can be moved into the vertical space of the desired item and the item will appear on the plan view accordingly. Essentially, after a wall has been selected, the breach line that runs across the plan view of a floor plan can be selected and then dragged across the floor in which the selected wall faces. Any floor items and/or furniture which 'breach' the horizontal placement of this line are automatically displayed on the elevation wall of the selected wall. This vertical representation of any of the floor items will mimic what is on the plan view; the angle at which the items are placed, as well as all individual item options and customizations such as fabric, finishing, and size selections, will be reflected accordingly. In other words, items which are modified in any way on the plan view would automatically be updated on the elevation wall in real-time. This is effective not only for a single item but also a group of items. For example, selecting a whole dining set at once, and then rotating the selection as a group would give off a genuine three-dimensional feel as the items communicate their co-ordinates to their elevation view twins. In addition, these same items will also be picked up and mimicked by other breach lines belonging to linked and adjacent walls. In another embodiment, for floor plans with curved walls, the corresponding one or more of the breach lines can also be curved.

Zoning

The online space planning tool further comprises a zoning functionality, which allows a user to plot a designated space within their floor plan which will then become modular in nature, for the advantages of both granting the user more organizational tools at their disposal, and for providing more accessible options in terms of quickly presenting various ideas to their clients.

With reference to Figures 2A to 2K, once it is decided that a division is required the user can plot a 'zone' by simply clicking dot-to-dot until the shape is completed. This now creates the zone where the user can create clones of this particular space for incubational editing. These clones are capable of becoming variations of the original plotted space, and as such the user is capable of switching these variations around within the confines of the zone at the click of a button using the zones palette of the system.

These variations are termed as 'layouts', with the parent layout referred to as the zone. Multiple zones can exist on a floor plan, and multiple layouts can exist within any individual zone. Zones are polygonal in nature, are plotted as such, and can be applied to absolutely any space across the floor plan. Layouts, as well as acting as variations of the original space, also contain an exclusive product listing for any items featured within their area.

If a user wishes to create variations of a particular creation, it usually requires saving multiple versions of the same file. However, with the zoning functionality, all of these ideas and suggestions or variations can be housed within the same floor plan project without the need to save multiple versions of the same file. This advantageously enables the administration of a project in becoming a thoroughly organized procedure without the need for duplicates and/or file versioning. An illustration of how the zoning functionality can be utilised is as follows. Take for example if a user, as a designer, has an idea for a different dining set for a client's dining room in mind, the user could simply cordon off this section (the table and chairs only), give it a name, and then create multiple clones of this dining set configuration. These clones can then be edited independently with entirely new combinations of tables and chairs, or different items entirely, and then switched around with their counterparts at the click of a button.

As described above, these variations are termed as layouts, with the parent layout being referred to as the zone. Multiple zones can exist on a floor plan, and multiple layouts can exist within any individual zone. Zones are polygonal in nature, are plotted as such, and can be applied to absolutely any space across the floor plan.

Once floor plans created using the online space planning tool reach a certain threshold of scale and complexity, it becomes essential for the user to organize their rooms and spaces into a more divisible format. Designers may want to produce break-downs of their budget expenditure to make sure that resources are spread evenly across the whole living space, hence, dividing the entire floor plan into zones helps the designer better balance the overall costing of the project. Another example would be utilising the zoning functionality to create different layouts with varying costs. A designer can produce three proposals for a client's room, say the games room. The space or room (zone) is the same, yet the ideas (Layouts) are each very different; Layout 1 is very cost-effective, Layout 2 is the middle-of-the-road, while Layout 3 is "No expense spared". These three layouts can be switched in and out of the zone at the click of a button, and thus the client is able to view these variations easily before deciding which layout they would like to proceed with.

Trace The online space planning tool further comprises a trace function which enables a user to import a pre-created floor plan from an external source and utilise it within the system, in order to quickly plot the walls and populate the space with articles available on the catalogue. This feature is advantageous as it saves time for users who already have floor plans on hand as they do not have to re-draw or re- create their floor plans.

With reference to 3A to 3M, to use the trace or tracing function, a user has to first select an image of a floorplan from their local computer; this can be a scanned image, an exported CAD drawing, or any other image format. Once the image is successfully imported, the online space planning tool will generate a request to seek the user's input as to the scale of the image. As digital platforms are not able to recognise physical sizes in metric/imperial dimensions, such a request is necessary to re-scale the imported asset so that the size matches the articles that are available in the catalogue. Upon receiving a real-world dimensional value for the imported image, the trace function will then use a mathematical algorithm to rescale and resample the image to a ratio of 1 :20.

To put in a scale for the imported image, the user is requested to draw a line between two points for which the real-life dimensions are known. This can be the length of a wall, or the width of a room, or even just the width of a door entry. Once the system has this information, it is then able to resize and resample the imported image to match everything else supplied within the library or catalogue of articles. A room that is represented as being nine meters wide is now scaled accordingly (to 1 :20) and will be able to perfectly fit three sofas from the catalogue each measuring 300cm.

Once the above process is complete, the user can then populate the imported floorplan with items, or quickly trace around the walls with the wall construction tools of the system in order to create elevation views and utilise breach lines.

Advantageously, with the tracing feature, there will be no discrepancies in relation to accommodating items within pre-created floor plans from external sources.

Further examples of each of the online space planning tool features, elevation wall and breach line, trace and zoning, and the implementation process of the aforementioned features will be described hereinafter.

Elevation Wall and Breach Line In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the following example for the online space planning tool feature, elevation wall and breach line, is described with reference to Figures 4 to 8. When the online space planning tool is launched by a user, a canvas/working area of 6000 x 6000 pixels is automatically created. Thereafter, the user may start creating walls on the canvas so as to start building a floor plan. Walls can be of any length and also curved. Any polygonal space (rectangle, square, etc.), space that is defined by one or more curved walls in combination with one or more straight lines, or space defined by a circle, can be created on the canvas. A series of walls may be joined and completed to form such a space, which will be the floor space or floor plan within the canvas. In this example, a rectangular room with for four walls (straight) is created, as shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 shows a canvas featuring a polygonal room and other articles or elements within the room such as furniture and other build elements.

The room is constructed out of two-dimensional plots as shown in Figure 5. Wall 1 , with ends A and B, as illustrated in Figure 5 will be used in this example to illustrate the mechanics behind the elevation wall and breach line feature. Upon selection of a particular wall, in this example Wall 1 , the wall hosts a pair of new objects known as breach lines as shown in Figure 6. As all walls have two sides, there will be two breach lines for each wall; one breach line for either side of the wall. When Wall 1 is created, the first point of Wall 1 is established as the point of origin (the coordinates located at point A) with the end point of the wall later being determined once the line is drawn (the coordinates at point B). Taking the two points into account, the length of Wall 1 can be measured. As described above, Wall 1 (and all walls) has two facing sides. The labelling of the sides of Wall 1 can be done at the point of creation of the wall.

When a wall, in this example Wall 1 , is created, it can only be viewed from a bird's eye view or a plan view. The breach lines as shown in Figure 6 will determine what is being reflected or viewed on an 'Elevation wall'; as if the user were to face the wall in person (see Figures 7 and 8).

As described above, a pair of breach lines appears when a wall is selected. To bring out or activate an elevation wall that will be reflected on the floor plan, a 'View Elevation' button located close to the breach line on the side of the wall facing the interior of the room can be clicked so as to activate the elevation wall. Upon the activation of the button, there can be three scenarios that arise:- i. The elevation wall view does not exist and it needs to be created. ii. The elevation wall is created and visibility is set to false. iii. The elevation wall is created and visibility is set to true. The creation of an elevation wall view (see point (i) above) is further described based on the following process:- i. Set the coordinates of Wall 1 point A as the start point and set the coordinates of Wall 1 point B as the end point (see Figure 7). ii. Values obtained are set to Radian mode and not Degree mode. Calculations are done in Radian mode. iii. Next is to automatically render a rectangular polygonal area not visible to users from Wall 1 to the breach line (see Figure 7). In Figure 7, the faded vertical lines that connect the two ends of the breach line to Point A and Point B represent a rectangle perimeter where any articles, objects or items breaching the area will be identified and later displayed within the elevation wall. The 'Jordan Curve Theorem' is used to detect the breach of lines between the objects and the perimeter.

Algorithm for detection and display on an elevation wall

1 . If an item intersects the polygonal area, of which in Figure 7 there are three objects breaching the breach line area, the implementation process of steps is as follows:- a. Calculate the intersection point on Wall 1 with the object located on the canvas, and situated within the perimeter. The intersection point obtained is relative to the main canvas, identified with coordinates. b. Calculate the distance between the canvas items from the intersection point determined on Wall 1 in the previous calculation. c. Calculate the canvas object's X coordinate position on Wall 1 . d. Calculate the canvas object's Y position on Wall 1 . e. Calculate the shortest distance between the object and Wall 1 . f. The object may be placed at various angles. To determine the exact placement when the elevation wall is viewed, the correct angle is required to be obtained. g. Objects within the perimeter can also be non-furniture objects, take for example, another wall within the perimeter. Therefore, the following conditions will need to be taken care of: i. If the canvas object is a foreign wall, not relative to the currently selected wall, then it has to be identified so that it is displayed correctly on the elevation wall. ii. If there is another wall within the perimeter and that particular wall also contains its own objects, such as doors and windows, these objects should not be displayed on Wall 1 . h. Action to be taken on furniture objects: i. If the object is not placed against a wall, prepare to display this object. ii. If the object is placed against any other foreign walls that are within the perimeter, do not prepare this object for display. This is to prevent any objects exclusive to the foreign wall, such as doors and curtains, from appearing on the currently selected wall (Wall 1 ).

2. Once the objects to be displayed have been identified, these need to be populated on the elevation wall with the correct placement using the appropriate coordinates that match the objects location on the plan view.

3. The logic used for obtaining the correct angles is as follows:- For each object: Since the coordinates and angles from the previous steps are known, the following is executed:

3.1 If the wall side is A: i. If the object's angle is between -22.5^Q to 22.5^Q then set it to the back view. ii. If the object's angle is between 22.5° to 67.5° then set it to the back right view. iii. If the object's angle is between 67.5° to 1 12.5° then set it to the right view. iv. If the object's angle is between 1 12.5° to 157.5° then set it to the front right view. v. If the object's angle is between 157.5° to 202.5° then set it to the front view. vi. If the object's angle is between -22.5^Q to -67.5^Q then set it to the back left view. vii. If the object's angle is between -67.5^Q to -1 12.5^s then set it to the left view. viii. If the object's angle is between -1 12.5^Q to -157.5^Q then set it to the front left view. ix. If the object's angle is between -157.5^Q to -202.5^Q then set it to the front view. 3.2 If the wall side is B: i. If the object's angle is between -22.5^Q to 22.5^Q then set it to front view. ii. If the object's angle is between 22.5° to 67.5° then set it to front left view. iii. If the object's angle is between 67.5° to 1 12.5° then set it to left view. iv. If the object's angle is between 1 12.5° to 157.5° then set it to back left view. v. If the object's angle is between 157.5° to 202.5^Q then set it to back view. vi. If the object's angle is between -22.5^Q to -67.5^Q then set it to front right view. vii. If the object's angle is between -67.5^Q to -1 12.5^s then set it to right view. viii. If the object's angle is between -1 12.5^s to -157.5^s then set it to back right view. ix. If the object's angle is between -157.5^Q to -202.5^Q then set it to back view.

After the above computations, the elevation wall will then load the images from a server to be displayed on the elevation view. The final result is shown in Figure 8.

Zoning In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the following example for the online space planning tool feature, zoning, is described with reference to Figures 9 to 13.

This feature, zoning, advantageously allows users to modulate different layouts across a given setting. Take for example there is a complete layout as shown in Figure 9, but there is a need to create different variations of this layout. This can be done by using the zoning feature.

To activate the zoning feature, users must first create a new zone. Firstly, the area or zone which requires variation or modulation needs to be identified, as shown in Figure 10. This area can be identified or defined by marking it out within a polygonal construct. To end the marking out process or plotting process the first point must be clicked again, effectively completing the shape. Once the zone is defined, in this example, the resulting plotted polygon or zone is represented as a rectangle as shown in Figure 1 1 . The defined zone is then labelled or given a name. Thereafter, all objects that are situated both within the defined zone and in contact with the defined zone are identified.

Algorithm for identifying objects that are within the defined zone

1 . For every object on the canvas: a. Obtain a registration point and check that the registration point is within the marked zone (See Figure 12). The registration point is the geographic location at which the centre of the object is situated. For example, an object measuring 200px width by 100px height would have a registration point located at 100X/50Y. b. If the object registration point is outside the marked zone then the rectangular line data for the object perimeter would need to be determined and considered. If any part of the perimeter of an object intersects with the plotted zone polygon or defined zone, the object will be regarded as being situated "within the zone", as the object 'makes contact' with the defined area and will trigger this activation.

Once all of the physically related objects are identified, a small preview image of the marked zone is created.

When a layout is selected, several processes are committed or carried out: a. The canvas will only display the selected zone's polygonal area and all relative contents. It will exclude any other area on the floor plan from being displayed, effectively masking out all other content as shown in Figure 1 1 . b. Other Layout previews, if available, can also be displayed, for example, these can be displayed under a 'zones tab'. c. If a Layout variant is selected, the object list on the current zone will be set to invisible and the selected Layout's contents will be loaded within the zone creating a real-time, full-scale preview of the selected Layout. Additionally, if a user is satisfied with the Layout preview, the Layouts can be exchanged permanently. There is a selection of features exclusive to the selected Layout preview: a. Duplicate: A Layout can be duplicated for editing and administration purposes. The online space planning tool can duplicate the data block and requests that a user give this new block a unique name (see Figure 13). b. Exchange: A Layout can be exchanged with an alternative Layout. All the different Layouts can be placed on a Layout pane of the online space planning tool. Loading a Layout from the Layout pane replaces the zone's contents entirely; however, the previous zone contents are still stored within Layouts and can be switched back at any time. This creates an exchange function where blocks of data (Layouts) can be switched around at will with a single click. c. Delete: A Layout can be deleted permanently.

When a user is editing a defined zone, any new objects must adhere to the ruling set by the algorithm described above. The newly added object's central point of registration must sit comfortably within the zone's polygonal area. If the object's rectangle boundaries intersect the zone's polygon, it will not be included. In addition, if any existing object currently situated and displayed within the zone polygon is dragged outside of the area, it will revert back to its point of previous position, as if no movement ever took place.

Trace

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the following example for the online space planning tool feature, trace, is described with reference to Figures 14 to 18.

When a pre-determined floor plan image is selected and uploaded using the online space planning tool, the image width is stored as the value ImageS. However, once placed onto the main display panel of the tool, the entire floor plan image must be reduced to fit the size of the screen, such as the monitor screen of a computer. Further to this, uploading the same floor plan image across various screen resolutions will provide varied display values. This display value is referred to as ImageP (see Figure 14).

Next, the true scale of the floor plan image must be calculated. For this to work, the dimensions of a particular length on the imported floor plan image must be known. The tool will present a user with: "To Define the Scale, Click & Drag the cursor between two known measured points on your imported plan". The value between the two known measured points is referred to as InputValue(IV) (see Figure 15).

The user must then define point A as the start point and point B as an end point across the length of the known area. The value of this display length is referred to it as the LineWidth(LW) (see Figure 16). Once this value is obtained, the tool will require the measurement between these two points (InputValue(IV)) as described above.

Upon confirmation of the LineWidth(LW) and InputValue(IV) by a user, the following sum is calculated in order to obtain the ratio of the floor plan image: The Inputvalue(IV) is divided by the LineWidth(LW) before being multiplied by the ImageP value (see Equation I below). This will now provide the application with the correct ratio value.

Equation I: LmeWmt (LW) J

With the correct ratio value now at hand, the online space planning tool can now multiply this value with the original image size from before any modifications took place (ImageS) and resize the image on the canvas accordingly (see Equation II below and Figure 17).

Equation II:

The imported floor plan image will now be scaled to match all articles or items available within the catalogue (see Figure 1 8). The online space planning tool is a web-based tool and can advantageously be transitioned from older versions of the HTML markup language to up-to-date versions of the language, keeping abreast with the advancement of technology.

It is to be understood that the above embodiments have been provided only by way of exemplification of this invention, and that further modifications and improvements thereto, as would be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art, are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the present invention described herein.

It would be further appreciated that although the invention covers individual embodiments, it also includes combinations of the embodiments discussed. For example, the features described in one embodiment is not being mutually exclusive to a feature described in another embodiment, and may be combined to form yet further embodiments of the invention.

Claims

A system for an online space planning tool, comprising:

a space plan module for creating a space plan having at least one wall and at least one floor;

a storage module for storing a plurality of images of articles for populating the space plan; and

an elevation wall and breach line module,

wherein the space plan module, the storage module and the elevation wall and breach line module interconnect and communicate with one another, and wherein the elevation wall and breach line module enables viewing of at least one article located on the wall in tandem with at least one article located on the floor of the space plan for providing two-dimensional representation and/or three-dimensional representation of the articles on the space plan.

The system according to claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a zoning module interconnectable with the modules, the zoning module for extracting a desired space within the space plan for creating at least one variation of the desired space.

The system according to any preceding claim, wherein the system further comprises a tracing module interconnectable with the modules, the tracing module for importing a pre-determined space plan from an external source into the system.

The system according to any preceding claim, wherein each image is in the form of a hand drawn rendition of each article.

The system according to claim 4, wherein each article is sketched in eight different angles.

The system according to claim 5, wherein the front view, left view, right view, front-left view, front-right view, back view, back-left view and back-right view of each article is sketched.

7. A method for an online space planning tool, comprising:

creating a space plan having at least one wall and at least one floor by a space plan module;

populating the space plan with at least an image of an article, the plurality of images of articles being stored in a storage module; and

viewing of at least one article located on the wall in tandem with at least one article located on the floor of the space plan by an elevation wall and breach line module,

wherein the space plan module, the storage module and the elevation wall and breach line module interconnect and communicate with one another, for providing two-dimensional representation and/or three-dimensional representation of the articles on the space plan.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises extracting a desired space within the space plan for creating at least one variation of the desired space by a zoning module.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the method further comprises importing a pre-determined space plan from an external source into the system by a tracing module.

10. The method according to any of claims 7 to 9, wherein each image is in the form of a hand drawn rendition of each article.

1 1 . The method according to claim 10, wherein each article is sketched in eight different angles.

12. The method according to claim 1 1 , wherein the front view, left view, right view, front-left view, front-right view, back view, back-left view and back-right view of each article is sketched.

13. A system for an online space planning tool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings as appropriate.

14. A method for an online space planning tool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings as appropriate.