Colour specification and matching are important tasks used in a number
of different industries. However, current methods can employ very com
plicated, elaborate pieces of laboratory equipment which are not porta
ble, such as spectrophotometers with combinations of calibrated light
sources and a large number of narrow band filters. Simpler, portable d
evices are typically not sophisticated enough to give a high degree of
quality control due to the less sophisticated light sources and the n
ecessarily smaller number of filters employed. Lastly, techniques such
as the 'match by eye' method can lead to deceptive metameric matches.
This paper outlines the beginning of the development of a colour meas
urement system which is portable, easy to use, and more accurate than
other portable devices by virtue of an artificial neural network used
to analyze the data. With specialized training of the neural network,
it could even be used in applications such as teeth and skin colour me
asurements.