Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
The instant application claims priority to provisional application 63/168,175 and as such the priority date of 03/30/2021 has been granted to the instant application.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed 06/11/2026 have been sufficient to overcome the rejections under 35 USC 12(b) presented, in the previous Final Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-3, and 7-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall-Tipping US 5362069 A, and further in view of Poulin US 20210093920 A1.
Regarding claim 1:
Hall-Tipping teaches a control system of an exercise machine (See col.3 lines 26-28,“FIG. 1 is block diagram of combined exercise device/video game system 2 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.”), comprising: a memory device (memory 16) for storing instructions(See col.5 line 28,“This logic is preferably stored in memory 16.”);a user interface (video display 10) for presenting a video game with an avatar of a user (See col.4 lines 50-53,“The display of elements in the video game, for example the user's alter ego in the video game, are altered to provide a visual representation of the speed that user 22 is pedaling bicycle 28” .The examiner notes that the user’s alter ego represented in the video game is an avatar of the user. Any avatar which represents the user in a video game is an avatar of the user, and changing the shape or design of the avatar amounts to no more than a design choice.);a processing device (processor 14) operatively coupled to the memory device and the user interface (See figure 1), wherein the processing device is configured to execute the instructions to: determine a first target sensor measurement of a first level of the video game and a second target sensor measurement of a second level of the video game (See col.3 lines 1-9,“The regulating means also comprises means for adjusting the level of difficulty of play of the video game according to the heart rate signal, where the level of difficulty of play of the video game is increased in response to the heart rate signal falling below the first threshold level and the level of difficulty of play of the video game is decreased in response to the heart rate signal falling below the second threshold level”. The examiner notes that the level of difficulty being increased from one to the next as a result of the comparison of the heart rate sensor signal to the target sensor measurement threshold as stated in the citation of col.3 lines 1-9 above shows that the second level is of higher difficulty as the thresholds need to be exceeded in order for the change to be executed.) the second level of the video game having a greater difficulty than the first level of the video game (See above citation regarding the levels of difficulty of the video game changing in response to sensor measurements); receive at least one sensor measurement from one or more sensors (aerobic activity level sensor 20 which generates a signal indicative of aerobic activity levels, and output level sensor 26 which senses the output of the exercise device related to the speed of the pedals as the user exerts forces upon them) operatively coupled to the exercise machine (See col. 3 lines 34-40,“According to the present invention, aerobic activity level sensor 20 senses the aerobic activity level of user 22 and generates an aerobic activity level signal indicative of that aerobic activity level. Output level sensor 26 senses the output level of exercise device 28 and generates an output level signal indicative of that output level.”),based on a first comparison of the at least one sensor measurement to the first target sensor measurement (The examiner notes that the system continuously compares the data from the heart rate sensor to the thresholds which relate to the different levels of difficulty in order to make adjustments from level to level when necessary. See col.4 line 67-col. 5 line 1,“Once user 22 commences the exercise routine, heart rate sensor 20 repeatedly compares the heart rate of user 22 against the threshold levels.”), automatically control, via an instruction transmitted to the exercise machine, a physical portion of the exercise machine (“In addition, processor 14 uses the heart rate signal to generate and transmit signals to adjust the level of difficulty of pedaling (i.e., resistance of) bicycle 28.” See col.4 lines 47-49), wherein the instruction causes an adjustment of one or more parameters that control the operation of the physical portion of the exercise machine (The examiner notes that as stated above in the citation of col. 4 lines 47-49, the pedaling resistance is automatically adjusted based off the sensor measurements); responsive to determining that the at least one sensor measurement exceeds the second target sensor measurement, cause a level of the video game to change to the second level (See citation above regarding when the system decides to change levels); and based on a second comparison of the at least one sensor measurement to the first target sensor measurement, provide a second instruction to the exercise machine, and the second instruction controls movement of the avatar of the user to cause presentation of visual feedback associated with user compliance with an exercise plan and to show movement of the avatar associated with the user’s movement(See col. 5 lines 53-60, “During the warm-up phase, the user's heart rate is repeatedly monitored to ensure that it remains below the maximum warm-up heart rate. As long as it does, the bicycle resistance and video game difficulty remain at the normal values. If the user's heart rate exceeds the maximum warm-up heart rate, a warning is provided to the user, for example a message or a sound, to prompt the user to slow down the pedaling of the bicycle.” The examiner notes that the video game displayed is also adjusted according to the sensor measurement in reference to the exercise routine as stated in col. 5 lines 7-17 with the example of the alter ego being chased and the exercise bike resistance being adjusted by the system according to the workout-phase of the exercise routine. Where the alter ego character moves according to the user’s movements.), and (ii) wherein the exercise plan comprises a safety limitation pertaining to an exercise in the exercise plan (The examiner notes that the “maximum warm-up heart rate” is a safety limitation that the system tracks the current heart rate of the user against in order to maintain safety limitations of the user).
[AltContent: textbox (FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a combined exercise device/video game system according to a preferred embodiment of Hall-Tipping)]
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Hall-Tipping fails to teach wherein the second instruction is generated by an artificial intelligence model, and further, (i) wherein showing the movement of the avatar includes changing a position of the avatar responsive to measurements indicating movement of one or more different body parts of the user.
Poulin, however, teaches techniques and apparatuses to describe an example personal fitness training computing system with biomechanical feedback to provide customized personal fitness training (See abstract), and further teaches wherein the second instruction is generated by an artificial intelligence model (“In one embodiment, a next workout recommendation may also be automatically generated by the computing system, for example, using artificial intelligence principles and algorithms based on the person's performance data captured, and saved at 330 on the cloud/data storage fitness platform at 306.” See paragraph [0039]), and further, (i) wherein showing the movement of the avatar includes changing a position of the avatar responsive to measurements indicating movement of one or more different body parts of the user (“In this example, an infrared camera 604 previously captured a dot map image of a user, and the personal fitness manager interactive display 602 used the dot map image to generate the portrayal of the skeletal figure (e.g., stick figure 606 built to represent the user. As the interactive display monitors the user's physical activity in real time with the infrared camera 604 or other video camera, the user's physical motion and joints are reflected on the touchscreen 603 real-time in the skeletal portrayal 606 to depict how the user is moving their body and joints.” See paragraph [0055], and figure 6).
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It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hall-Tipping to use artificial intelligence to generate instructions as taught by Poulin, as well as to modify the movement of the avatar so that movement of the avatar corresponds to movement of the one or more different body parts of the user as taught by Poulin as this is a simple graphical modification and is known in the art of both video games, and visual feedback systems for exercise devices, and using artificial intelligence models to decide next exercises or adjust workout plans during use is common the field of electronically controlled exercise devices, and the AI would provide more specific adjustments and control of the device faster based on the data collected from the sensors present in Hall-Tipping.
Regarding claim 2:
Hall-tipping as modified discloses the control system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors are operatively coupled to at least one of a pedal of the exercise machine(See col. 3 lines 63-66, “In a preferred embodiment, exercise device 28 is an exercise bicycle and output level sensor 26 is built into the exercise bicycle. Output level sensor senses the speed at which the bicycle is pedaled.”) or at least one of a handle, a foot plate, and a platform of the exercise machine.
Regarding claim 3:
Hall-tipping as modified discloses the control system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensor measurements from the one or more sensors comprise at least one (The examiner notes that the phrase “at least one of” preceding the list of options requires only one of the options for the invention) of a load measurement, a speed measurement (See col. 3 lines 65-66, “Output level sensor senses the speed at which the bicycle is pedaled.”),a repetition measurement, and a stability measurement.
Regarding claim 7:
Hall-Tipping as modified discloses the control system of claim 1, wherein the exercise in the exercise plan is configured to rehabilitate a body part of a user (The examiner notes that the system of Hall-Tipping is used as an exercise device in combination with controls and display means for a video game, and therefore the plan the system utilizes in order to control/guide the user and the exercise device while in use is inherently configured to rehabilitate a body part of a user as rehabilitation is generally understood to be targeted exercise and the exercise device of Hall-Tipping targets not only cardiovascular health but also the legs of a user since it is stated to be an exercise bike.).
Regarding claim 8:
Hall-Tipping as modified discloses the control system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further configured to execute the instructions to receive user input data comprising at least one of a pain level, an exertion level, and a vital sign (See col. 4 lines 58-62, “Prior to commencing an exercise routine, user 22 uses hand controllers 24 to select the durations of the warm-up, work-out, and cool-down phases of his exercise routine and the threshold heart rate levels for each of these phases.”), wherein the change between the first level and the second level of the video game is further based on the user input data (See col. 4 line 67- col. 5 line 6,“Once user 22 commences the exercise routine, heart rate sensor 20 repeatedly compares the heart rate of user 22 against the threshold levels. If the user's heart rate does not conform with the threshold levels, processor 14 generates signals to alter both the play of the video game and the resistance of exercise devise 28 to encourage user 22 to achieve conformity with the threshold levels.”).
Regarding claim 9:
Hall-Tipping as modified discloses the control system of claim 8, wherein the processing device is further configured to execute the instructions to: based on at least one of sensor measurement, the user input, and the vital sign, select the second level of the video game (As stated above in the rejection of claims 1 and 8 which claim 9 depends on, the user input for vital sign threshold, the sensor measurements of the vital signs, and the sensor measurements from the output sensors are sued to determine when the system switches from level to level and increases or lowers the difficulty of the video game).
Regarding claim 10:
Hall-Tipping as modified discloses the control system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further configured to execute the instructions to receive tracker data from a fitness wearable (See col. 4 lines 5-10, “Aerobic activity sensor 20 may be an earlobe clip heart rate sensor, chest-mounted heart rate sensor, or other device that senses the heart rate of user 22. Alternatively, aerobic activity sensor 20 may be a pulse oximeter for sensing the blood oxygen content of user 22.”), wherein the tracker data comprises a vital sign value (See col. 4 lines 2-5, “The aerobic activity level may be the heart rate, blood oxygen content, or other measure of the aerobic activity level of user 22.”).
Regarding claim 11:
Hall-Tipping as modified discloses the control system of claim 10, wherein changing between the first level and the second level of the video game is further based on the tracker data (The examiner notes that as stated above in the rejection of claim 1, which claim 10 depends on, which claim 11 depends on, the system changes from one level of difficulty to the next as a result of the comparison of the actual sensor measurements to the target sensor measurements, and therefore the combination of signals from the sensors and the controllers which are used to generate control signals for the video game show that the change between levels is based on the tracker data. See col. 4 lines 21-24, “Processor 14 combines the signals from output level sensor 26, aerobic activity level sensor 20, and joystick controller 24 to generate and transmit to video controller signals that control operations of the video game.”).
Regarding claim 12:
Hall-Tipping teaches the control system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is configured to execute the instruction to: present the video game with at least one of visual content (The examiner notes that the phrase “at least one of “ preceding the two options requires only one for the invention) visual content (See col.4 lines 50-53, “The display of elements in the video game, for example the user's alter ego in the video game, are altered to provide a visual representation of the speed that user 22 is pedaling bicycle 28.”) and audio content; but fails to teach wherein at least one of the visual content and the audio content comprises an exercise goal presented to a user.
Poulin, however, teaches techniques and apparatuses to describe an example personal fitness training computing system with biomechanical feedback to provide customized personal fitness training (See abstract), and further teaches wherein at least one of the visual content and the audio content comprises an exercise goal presented to a user (For example, aspects displayed may include active time 804, score history 806, and/or other relevant data 808 such as form score, volume lifted, time under tension, and time active. Other summary data may include the most improved exercise or the most recurring challenge area of the body. Suggestions may also be displayed for how to improve upon the challenged error in future workouts.” See paragraph [0068])
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It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the video content provided by Hall-Tipping to include an exercise goal as taught by Poulin as this would allow the user to alter their performance in comparison to their desired goals while actively exercising, without needing to receive the feedback either prior to or after an exercise session, which would allow them to make the desired progress towards their goals quicker.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall-Tipping US 5362069 A, in view of Poulin US 20210093920 A1, and further in view of Yamashita et al. US 20030064860 A1.
Hall-Tipping as modified teaches the invention as substantially claimed above.
Regarding claim 4:
Hall-Tipping teaches, the control system of claim 1, but fails to teach wherein the processing device is configured to execute the instruction to responsive to a first value of the at least one sensor measurement, change a position of the avatar at a first speed; and responsive to a second value of the at least one sensor measurement, change the position of the avatar at a second speed, wherein the second value comprises a greater value than the first value, and the second speed of the avatar is greater than the first speed of the avatar.
Yamashita, however, teaches an exercise assisting method and apparatus which enable a user to finish an exercise menu in a more suitable condition while urging the user to have an active will to exercise, and further teaches responsive to receiving a first value of the at least one sensor measurement, changing a position of an avatar at a first speed (See paragraph [0069, “The game executing unit 33 causes the cycling machine character 103 to run along the jumping platform according to the pedal rotating speed and the position (running distance) of the user and to jump at the top of the jumping platform, and instructs the landing at a specified position.”); and responsive to receiving a second value of the at least one sensor measurement, changing the position of the avatar at a second speed (See paragraph [0070], “This means that, even if the pedals 11b are turned quickly to earn a longer jumping distance, i.e. to jump farther, a high score is not necessarily given. The training and the purpose meet in the point of aiming to maintain a suitable exercising state throughout the training (exercise).” The examiner notes that the change in the behavior of the video game character would correspond to the increased pedaling speed but would also correspond to the detected pulse rate, as such with the different pedaling speeds the user needs to maintain a corresponding higher pulse rate for the best result in order to progress their score or through the levels) wherein the second value comprises a greater value than the first value (As stated above to get a better score the user needs to pedal faster and raise their pulse rate which means the second value measured needs to be higher than the first in order for the character to jump further or move faster), and the second speed of the avatar is greater than the first speed of the avatar (The character would jump further and land more accurately as stated above when the users measured values are increased from the first to the second values, and if the user was playing the virtual biking game, the image of the character pedaling through the track would move at an increased rate accordingly as well).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the visuals of the game of Hall-Tipping to update the video game character(s) at a first and second speeds according to the first and second measurements, as taught by Yamashita as Hall-Tipping already makes video game related updates based on the sensor data as stated above, and corresponding the speed of the avatar to change at specific speeds when a user increases or decreases their performance either based on the sensors reading the pedals, or the vital sign sensors present in the system would allow for more accurate visual feedback to be presented to the user.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall-Tipping US 5362069 A, in view of Poulin US 20210093920 A1, and further in view of Mason US 20210138304 A1.
Hall-Tipping teaches the invention as substantially claimed above.
Regarding claim 6:
Hall-Tipping teaches the control system of claim 1, including a sensor operatively coupled to both pedals in order to monitor the speed at which the bicycle is pedaled as stated in col. 3 lines 63-66, but fails to specifically teach a first sensor of the one or more sensors is coupled to a first pedal of the exercise machine, and a second sensor of the one or more sensors is coupled to a second pedal of the exercise machine.
Mason, however, teaches systems, methods, and computer-readable mediums for an adjustable prehabilitation and exercise device and associated components and further teaches wherein: a first sensor and a second sensor is coupled to a first and second pedal of the exercise machine respectively (See paragraph [0091], “For example, the pedals 110 may each contain any suitable sensor (e.g., strain gauge load cell, piezoelectric crystal, hydraulic load cell, etc.) for measuring force exerted on the pedal 110. Further, the pedals 110 may each contain any suitable sensor for detecting whether the body part of the user separates from contact with the pedals 110.”)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hall-Tipping to include a sensor coupled to each pedal of the exercise machine as taught by Mason, as a duplication of parts is well known in the art, and would allow for more accurate data collection for the system in regards to the user’s effort.
Claim(s) 13-15, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall-Tipping US 5362069 A, in view of Poulin US 20210093920 A1, and further in view of Mason US 20210138304 A1.
Regarding claim 13:
Hall-Tipping teaches a method for a control system of an exercise machine, comprising: determining a first target sensor measurement of a first level of a video game and a second target sensor measurement of a second level of the video game (See col.3 lines 1-9 cited above), the second level of the video game having a greater difficulty than the first level of the video game (The examiner notes that the level of difficulty being increased from one to the next as a result of the target sensor measurements as stated in the citation of col.3 lines 1-9 above shows that the second level is of higher difficulty); receiving at least one sensor measurement from one or more sensors operatively coupled to the exercise machine( See col. 3 lines 34-40 cited above) based on a comparison of the at least one sensor measurement to the first target sensor measurement (See col.4 line 67-col. 5 line 1 cited above), automatically controlling, via a first instruction transmitted to the exercise machine, a physical portion of the exercise machine (“In addition, processor 14 uses the heart rate signal to generate and transmit signals to adjust the level of difficulty of pedaling (i.e., resistance of) bicycle 28.” See col.4 lines 47-49), wherein the first instruction causes an adjustment of one or more parameters that control the operation of the physical portion of the exercise machine (The examiner notes that as stated above in the citation of col. 4 lines 47-49, the pedaling resistance is automatically adjusted based off the sensor measurements); responsive to determining that the at least one sensor measurement exceeds the second target sensor measurement, cause a level of the video game to change to the second level (See citation above regarding when the system decides to change levels).
Hall-Tipping fails to teach receiving, by a user interface, user input data comprising a pain level; and based on the pain level, providing a second instruction to the exercise machine, and the second instruction adjusts the one or more parameters that control the operation of the exercise machine and controls movement of an avatar of a user presented on the user interface, wherein controlling the movement of the avatar includes changing a position of the avatar responsive to measurements indicating movement of one or more different body parts of the user, wherein the movement of the avatar corresponds to movement of the one or more different body parts of the user and wherein the second instruction is generated by an artificial intelligence engine model.
The examiner notes that Hall-Tipping does teach a user interface in general (video display 10) for presenting a video game with an avatar of a user (See col.4 lines 50-53,“The display of elements in the video game, for example the user's alter ego in the video game, are altered to provide a visual representation of the speed that user 22 is pedaling bicycle 28” .The examiner notes that the user’s alter ego represented in the video game is an avatar of the user. Any avatar which represents the user in a video game is an avatar of the user, and changing the shape or design of the avatar amounts to no more than a design choice.), and teaches wherein controlling the movement of the avatar includes changing a position of the avatar responsive to measurements (See col. 5 lines 7-17 with the example of the alter ego being chased and the exercise bike resistance being adjusted by the system according to the workout-phase of the exercise routine, wherein the alter ego character moves according to the user’s movements.)
What is specifically not taught by Hall-Tipping is that a user input comprising a pain level is received by the user interface, and based on the pain level, providing a second instruction to the exercise machine, where the second instruction specifically adjusts the one or more parameters that control the operation of the exercise machine and controls movement of an avatar of a user presented on the user interface, wherein the movement of the avatar corresponds to movement of the one or more different body parts of the user
Poulin, however, teaches techniques and apparatuses to describe an example personal fitness training computing system with biomechanical feedback to provide customized personal fitness training (See abstract), and further teaches wherein the movement of the avatar corresponds to movement of the one or more different body parts of the user(“In this example, an infrared camera 604 previously captured a dot map image of a user, and the personal fitness manager interactive display 602 used the dot map image to generate the portrayal of the skeletal figure (e.g., stick figure 606 built to represent the user. As the interactive display monitors the user's physical activity in real time with the infrared camera 604 or other video camera, the user's physical motion and joints are reflected on the touchscreen 603 real-time in the skeletal portrayal 606 to depict how the user is moving their body and joints.” See paragraph [0055], and figure 6).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the avatar movement which is already taught by Hall-Tipping so that movement of the avatar corresponds to movement of the one or more different body parts of the user as taught by Poulin as this is a simple graphical modification and is known in the art of both video games, and visual feedback systems for exercise devices.
Mason, however, teaches systems, methods, and computer-readable mediums for an adjustable prehabilitation and exercise device and associated components, and further teaches receiving, by a user interface, user input data comprising a pain level(“See paragraph [0278], “It should be noted, that as the patient uses the treatment apparatus, the user may use the patient interface to enter input pertaining to a pain level experienced by the patient as the patient performs the treatment plan.”; and based on the pain level, providing a second instruction to the exercise machine, wherein the second instruction adjusts the one or more parameters that control the operation of the exercise machine (See paragraph [00278], “The pain level may cause the range of motion to be dynamically adjusted based on the treatment plan. For example, the treatment plan may specify alternative range of motion settings if a certain pain level is indicated when the user is performing an exercise at a certain range of motion.”) and wherein the second instruction is generated by an artificial intelligence engine model (The examiner notes that paragraph [0079] discusses how the machine learning model, which is artificial intelligence, can generate an optimal configuration of the exercise device for the user, based on the AI generated prehabilitation plan, where the optimal configuration is also stated to be automatically adjusted based on user performance and pain level as mentioned in paragraph [0278]).
In regards to claim 18, Mason further teaches a first sensor and a second sensor is coupled to a first and second pedal of the exercise machine respectively (“See paragraph [0091], For example, the pedals 110 may each contain any suitable sensor (e.g., strain gauge load cell, piezoelectric crystal, hydraulic load cell, etc.) for measuring force exerted on the pedal 110. Further, the pedals 110 may each contain any suitable sensor for detecting whether the body part of the user separates from contact with the pedals 110.”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hall-Tipping to include a sensor coupled to each pedal of the exercise machine, to plan the exercises in order to rehab a body part of a user, and to use the user’s pain level as in input to adjust the exercise device as taught by Mason, as Hall-Tipping already utilizes sensors to monitor the pedals of an exercise device, so having one sensor for each pedal, would be a duplication of parts, which is well known in the art, and would allow for more accurate data collection for the system in regards to the user’s effort.
Regarding claim 14:
Hall-Tipping discloses the method of claim 13, wherein the one or more sensors are operatively coupled to at least one of a pedal of the exercise machine (“In a preferred embodiment, exercise device 28 is an exercise bicycle and output level sensor 26 is built into the exercise bicycle. Output level sensor senses the speed at which the bicycle is pedaled.” See col. 3 lines 63-66) or at least one of a handle, a foot plate, and a platform of the exercise machine.
Regarding claim 15:
Hall-Tipping as modified discloses the method of claim 13, wherein the one or more sensor measurements from the one or more sensors comprise at least one (The examiner notes that the phrase “at least one of” preceding the list of options requires only one of the options for the invention) of a load measurement, a speed measurement (“Output level sensor senses the speed at which the bicycle is pedaled.” See col. 3 lines 65-66), a repetition measurement, and a stability measurement.
Regarding claim 18:
Hall-Tipping as modified teaches the method of claim 13, wherein: a first sensor of the one or more sensors is coupled to a first pedal of the exercise machine and a second sensor of the one or more sensors is coupled to a second pedal of the exercise machine (See rejection of claim 13 above which combines the invention of Hall-Tipping with that of Mason in order to modify the output sensor of Hall-Tipping to include a sensor coupled to each pedal).
Regarding claim 19:
Hall-Tipping as modified discloses the method of claim 13, wherein an exercise in an exercise plan is configured to rehabilitate a body part of a user (The examiner notes that the system of Hall-Tipping is used as an exercise device in combination with controls and display means for a video game, and therefore the plan the system utilizes in order to control/guide the user and the exercise device while in use is inherently configured to rehabilitate a body part of a user as rehabilitation is generally understood to be targeted exercise and the exercise device of Hall-Tipping targets not only cardiovascular health but also the legs of a user since it is stated to be an exercise bike.).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall-Tipping US 5362069 A, in view of Poulin US 20210093920 A1, in view of Mason US 20210138304 A1 and further in view of Yamashita et al. US 20030064860 A1 .
Hall-Tipping as modified teaches the invention as substantially claimed above.
Regarding claim 16:
Hall-Tipping teaches the method of claim 13, but fails to teach further comprising: responsive to receiving a first value of the at least one sensor measurement, changing the position of an avatar at a first speed; and responsive to receiving a second value of the at least one sensor measurement, changing the position of the avatar at a second speed, wherein the second value comprises a greater value than the first value, and the second speed of the avatar is greater than the first speed of the avatar.
Yamashita, however, teaches an exercise assisting method and apparatus which enable a user to finish an exercise menu in a more suitable condition while urging the user to have an active will to exercise, and further teaches responsive to receiving a first value of the at least one sensor measurement, changing the position of an avatar at a first speed (See paragraph [0069, “The game executing unit 33 causes the cycling machine character 103 to run along the jumping platform according to the pedal rotating speed and the position (running distance) of the user and to jump at the top of the jumping platform, and instructs the landing at a specified position.”); and responsive to receiving a second value of the at least one sensor measurement, changing the position of the avatar at a second speed (See paragraph [0070], “This means that, even if the pedals 11b are turned quickly to earn a longer jumping distance, i.e. to jump farther, a high score is not necessarily given. The training and the purpose meet in the point of aiming to maintain a suitable exercising state throughout the training (exercise).” The examiner notes that the change in the behavior of the video game character would correspond to the increased pedaling speed but would also correspond to the detected pulse rate, as such with the different pedaling speeds the user needs to maintain a corresponding higher pulse rate for the best result in order to progress their score or through the levels) wherein the second value comprises a greater value than the first value (As stated above to get a better score the user needs to pedal faster and raise their pulse rate which means the second value measured needs to be higher than the first in order for the character to jump further or move faster), and the second speed of the avatar is greater than the first speed of the avatar (The character would jump further and land more accurately as stated above when the users measured values are increased from the first to the second values, and if the user was playing the virtual biking game, the image of the character pedaling through the track would move at an increased rate accordingly as well).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the visuals of the game of Hall-Tipping to update the video game character(s) at a first and second speeds according to the first and second measurements, as taught by Yamashita as Hall-Tipping already makes video game related updates based on the sensor data as stated above, and corresponding the speed of the avatar to change at specific speeds when a user increases or decreases their performance either based on the sensors reading the pedals, or the vital sign sensors present in the system would allow for more accurate visual feedback to be presented to the user.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/11/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In regards to the applicant’s arguments presented in response to the previous rejection of independent claims 1 in view of the combination of the Hall-Tipping and Hoang references, the examiner notes that due to the amendments presented by the applicant and new search and consideration for the new limitations was required and as such the new rejection under 35 USC 103 presented above in view of Hall-Tipping and Poulin is presented as the newly added limitation of wherein showing the movement of the avatar includes changing a position of the avatar responsive to measurements indicating movement of one or more different body parts of the user was not originally present in the previous set of claims.
Furthermore, there were no arguments presented regarding the rejection of independent claim 13 in view of the combination of Hall-Tipping and Mason which causes the applicant's arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN ANGELO DICUIA whose telephone number is (703)756-4713. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, LoAn Jimenez can be reached at (571) 272-4966. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN A DICUIA/Examiner, Art Unit 3784 /
/Megan Anderson/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3784
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