DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §103
2. 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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 9 - 11, 13, 15 - 18, and 20 - 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wachter (Pub. No. US 2024/0364771 A1; hereinafter Wachter) in view of Peters et al (Pub. No. US 2022/0086393 A1; hereinafter Peters)
Consider claims 1,11, and 18, Wachter clearly shows and discloses a computer system, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, and a method comprising: storing, by an interactive virtual conference platform in one or more virtual environment systems, a plurality of virtual environments (The post-conference module 328 may use insights gained from the conference to update the intervention dataset 318 and refine the system for future video conferences. The post-conference module 328 may facilitate the sharing of conference materials, recordings, and other relevant information with participants and other stakeholders, including conferences that are unrelated to one another and/or multiple conferences related to unrelated parties) (paragraph 0058, and 0047); storing, by the interactive virtual conference platform in the one or more virtual environment systems, a plurality of emotional cues (the output parameters 512 may include changes in participant behavior/emotional such as quite, engagement levels, or other relevant indicators that demonstrate the impact of the intervention; using the intervention input parameters 508 as guidance to adapt its behavior to the conference context) (paragraphs: 0004-0005, 0062, 0074, 0076, 0077, and 0111); receiving, at the interactive virtual conference platform, a plurality of requests to join a virtual conference (facilitating communication in virtual environments, the peer leader may support levels of facilitation (e.g., small groups, workshop groups, and/or community groups, etc.), and/or offer training to equip participants (e.g., a select group of the participants)) (paragraph 0005); connecting, by the interactive virtual conference platform, a plurality of sessions corresponding to the plurality of request, wherein each session comprises input data comprising at least one or more video or audio streams, which collectively form a plurality of video or audio streams (In the video conference coordination server, the conference administrator 302 may in part facilitate workshop sessions and/or breakout rooms in a video call and/or video conference) (paragraph 0006 and 0047 and fig. 3); analyzing, by a server of the interactive virtual conference platform, the plurality of video or audio streams (The data collection module 408 may process and analyze the inputs to extract relevant insights and patterns (of human communication in general and of the diverse background of participants represented in each group); employed to analyze and classify different types of video conferences,) (paragraphs: 0060-0061, 0081); detecting automatically, by the interactive virtual conference platform, a contextual scenario from amongst a plurality of contextual scenarios (the intervention criteria 506 may define the specific conditions or triggers that prompt the activation of the corresponding intervention module. The criteria may depend on factors such as participant behavior, conference dynamics, or other contextual information gathered during the pre-conference, intra-conference) (paragraph 0074, 0077); selecting, by the interactive virtual conference platform in response to detecting the contextual scenario, an intervention from an intervention database based on detected contextual scenario or the detected one or more emotional cues (using the intervention input parameters 508 as guidance to adapt its behavior to the conference context. The intervention code 510 may interact with the conference administrator 302, video conferencing clients 306, 310, and 314, or other parts of the system to enable integration of the intervention during the conference) (paragraph 0076); reading, by the interactive virtual conference platform in response to detecting the contextual scenario, the intervention from the intervention database (The intervention output parameters 512 may represent the results or effects of the intervention module's execution. The output parameters 512 may include changes in participant behavior, engagement levels, or other relevant indicators that demonstrate the impact of the intervention. The system may utilize the output parameters to inform the post-conference module 328 (e.g., the intervention analysis and reporting 430), which may assess the effectiveness of the interventions and refine future recommendations based on these outcomes. The output parameters may be used by the intra-conference module 326 to adapt the conference intervention plan 416 (e.g., in real-time), allowing for responsive and personalized interventions throughout the conference) (paragraph 0074 -0077 and fig. 5); however, Wachter does not disclose receiving, at the interactive virtual conference platform, a plurality of requests to join a virtual conference in at least one of the plurality of virtual environments; detecting automatically, by the interactive virtual conference platform, a contextual scenario from amongst a plurality of contextual scenarios based on the data analyzed video or audio streams; and intervening, by the interactive virtual conference platform, in the virtual conference based on the intervention read from the intervention database, wherein the intervention is an indirect intervention comprising at least one change to an output audio signal or an output video signal.
In the same field of endeavor, Peters clearly specifically disclose receiving, at the interactive virtual conference platform, a plurality of requests to join a virtual conference in at least one of the plurality of virtual environments (abstract and paragraph 0024, 0034, 0289, and 216); detecting automatically, by the interactive virtual conference platform, a contextual scenario from amongst a plurality of contextual scenarios based on the data analyzed video or audio streams (analysis of video streams to enhance a video conference is also computationally intensive. For example, processing to detect facial expressions, gestures, eye-gaze direction, head position, emotion, voice stress, and other properties can be highly demanding) (paragraphs: 0009-0010, 0013, 003-0084); and intervening, by the interactive virtual conference platform, in the virtual conference based on the intervention read from the intervention database, wherein the intervention is an indirect intervention comprising at least one change to an output audio signal or an output video signal (the integrated representation includes a symbol indicative of the conference participant that changes in color according to the relative degree of quality and level of participation based on the measurement value as compared to the other plurality of participants; recommendations for conversation management with icons in the upper left corner. The different shapes and/or colors can signal different needs or using animation/ read on indirect intervention) (paragraphs: 0080, 0081, 0090-0091, 0329, 0361, 0364, 0334, 0367, 0395, fig. 9A, fig. 9D, and fig. 12A )
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the teaching of Peters into teaching of Wachter for the purpose of using charts, graphs, animations, colors, shapes, and other visualizations in order to show changes in the level of participation.
Consider claim 2, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, further comprising, inputting, by the interactive virtual conference platform, one or more data sets corresponding to the plurality of contextual scenarios into one or more neural networks (Peters: paragraphs: 0049, 0074, and 0176).
Consider claim 4, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, further comprising: receiving feedback on the intervention and applying the feedback to the one or more neural networks to train the one or more neural networks to apply to future interventions (Wachter: paragraphs: 0021, 0070, 0072, and 0079; Peters: paragraphs: 0086, and 0143).
Consider claim 7, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, wherein the indirect intervention comprises at least one of a change to a virtual camera angle, a shot size, a camera motion, a brightness of the output video signal, a tone of the output audio signal, a tint of the output video signal, a color of at least one background, music, or spotlighting the at least one user (Peters: paragraphs: 0080, 0081, 0090-0091, 0329, 0361, 0364, 0334, 0367, 0395, fig. 9A, fig. 9D, and fig. 12A).
Consider claim 9, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, wherein selecting, by the interactive virtual conference platform in response to detecting the contextual scenario, the intervention from the intervention database further includes selecting the intervention based on one or more user profiles (Wachter: paragraphs: 0101 and 0102; Peters: paragraphs: 0220 and 0232).
Consider claim 10, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, wherein the one or more user profiles comprise one or more user settings correlating contextual scenarios with preselected intervention criteria (Wachter: paragraphs: 0101, 0102, and 0103).
Consider claim 13, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, wherein the interactive video conferencing platform is further configured to receive feedback on the intervention and to apply the feedback to one or more neural networks to train the one or more neural networks to apply to future interventions (Wachter: paragraphs: 0021, 0058, 0070, 0072, and 0079; Peters: paragraphs: 0086, and 0143).
Consider claim 15, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, wherein the indirect intervention comprises one or more of changing a brightness of the output video signal, changing a tone of the output audio signal, and changing a tint of the output video signal, changing one or more camera views, environmental changes comprising changing a color of at least one background, changing music, or spotlighting at least one user (Peters: paragraphs: 0080, 0081, 0090-0091, 0329, 0361, 0364, 0334, 0367, 0395, fig. 9A, fig. 9D, and fig. 12A).
Consider claim 16, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, wherein the intervention corresponding to the contextual scenario further corresponds to on one or more user profiles (Wachter: paragraphs: 0101, 0102, and 0103).
Consider claim 17, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, wherein the one or more user profiles comprise one or more user settings correlating contextual scenarios with preselected intervention criteria (Wachter: paragraphs: 0101, 0102, and 0103).
Consider claim 20, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, wherein the intervention corresponding to the contextual scenario further corresponds to on one or more user profiles (Wachter: paragraphs: 0101, 0102, and 0103).
Consider claim 21, 24, and 27, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method, the computer system, and the non-transitory, wherein the input data comprising the at least one or more video or audio streams is obtained from at least one or more real-world devices and from within at least one of the plurality of virtual environments (analysis video streams) (Peters: paragraphs: 0009, 0011, 0012, 0027, 0050-0051 for video, 0053 for audio, and 0055).
Consider claim 22, and 25, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method and the computer system, wherein the input data obtained from within the at least one of the plurality of virtual environments comprises one or more video streams captured by a virtual camera (Peters: paragraphs: 0014, 0033, 0035, and 0182).
Consider claim 23, and 26, Wachter and Peters clearly show the method and the computer system, wherein the input data obtained from within the at least one of the plurality of virtual environments comprises one or more audio streams captured by a processing system of the at least one of the plurality of virtual environments (Peters: paragraphs: 0023, 0078, 0083, 0084, claims 7-8).
Response to Arguments
The present Office Action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed on January 30, 2026. Applicants amended claims 1, 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, and 18. The Applicant cancels claims 3, 5, 6, 8, 12, 14, and 19, and added new claims 21-27.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 9 - 11, 13, 15 - 18, and 20 - 27 are now pending in the present application.
Applicant argues on the Applicant’s Response that Wachter and Peters failed to teach the limitation "intervening, by the interactive virtual conference platform, in the virtual conference based on the intervention read from the intervention database, wherein the intervention is an indirect intervention comprising at least one change to an output audio signal or an output video signal.”
The Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicants’ arguments, Peters teaches the representation of the composite score comprises a symbol that changes in color according to a degree of quality and level of participation of a participant whose voice or image is indicated by the media stream for the particular endpoint, setting the color of the symbol based on the degree of quality and level of participation relative to the multiple predetermined thresholds (paragraphs: 0080-0081, 0090-0091, 0326). Peters teaches the system continues to monitor engagement and sentiment and adjusts the plots dynamically, in real-time. The plot will respond in real-time so that presenters can respond to shifts and splits in the collective response of the audience. This data will be most useful in large group settings such as classrooms or large scale webinars. The size and density of a region indicates a large number of audience members experiencing that combination of sentiment and engagement. Higher engagement is shown in more vivid colors, while apathy is expressed through more muted colors (paragraphs: 0326, 0330 and fig. 9A and fig. 9D). Peters teaches FIG. 12A shows recommendations for conversation management with icons in the upper left corner; the different shapes and/or colors can signal different needs. This view shows icons associated with actions that should be taken to address the needs of team members or to facilitate overall collaboration. For example, the square may indicate that the person needs to talk less (e.g., they are dominating the conversation or having a negative effect on others), a triangle may indicate that the person needs to be drawn into the conversation, etc (paragraphs: 0334, and fig. 12A). For example, the system can track the levels of different emotional or cognitive attributes and show a chart, graph, animation, or other indication of the attributes previously during the communication session, allowing the presenter 1501 to see if and how the attributes have changed (paragraphs: 0364). As a result, Wachter and Peters teaches all the limitation of claims 1,11, and 18.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Amal Zenati whose telephone number is 571- 270- 1947. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00 -5:00 M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ahmad Matar can be reached on 571- 272- 7488. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571- 273-8300.
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/AMAL S ZENATI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693
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