DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 05/05/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 3, 6-7, 9, 12-13, 15 and 18 are amended.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kohn (US 20170213478 A1) in view of Amariei (US 12044541 B2) and Moustafa (US 20220126864) and further evidenced by Wikipedia(2021).
Regarding claim 1, Kohn teaches a system for assisting a visually impaired user to navigate a physical environment comprising[ Abstract; Fig 1]:
A camera[#112ain fig 1, 4, 6; 0048, 0052 has camera];
a range sensor[#] 12d in Fig 6; See also 0048];
a microphone[#150 in Fig 6 and 0052];
a sound output device[#122 in Fig 6 has surround sound speaker; see also 0050];
a memory configured to store at least one instruction Claim 7 has database for storage];
and a processor configured to execute the at least one instruction to[#116 in Fig 6 is processor, See also 0050];
receive information on the visually impaired user's then current position from one or more of the camera, the range sensor, or the microphone[Abstract; Claim 1, 4 has sensor identifying position and surroundings]
receive information…… from the microphone[0016, 0052-0053 teaches GPS receiving voice commands]…..
determine in real-time at least one 3D sound point value and position and provide an output to the sound output device[0006, 0011, 0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing guidance to the user],
wherein the output to the sound output device comprises a 3D directional sound configured to provide sensory prompts to guide the visually impaired user as the visually impaired user moves along the first path. [0006, 0011, 0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing guidance to the user]
wherein the processor is further configured to execute the atleast one instruction to: [#116 in Fig 6 is processor, See also 0050]…..
and based on the updated checkpoint trajectory, determine in real-time at least one 3D sound point value and position, and provide a checkpoint trajectory output to the sound output device. [0006, 0011,0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing guidance to the user]
wherein the ….. controller is configured to modulate a spatial coordinate of the 3D sound point value and position based on a derivative of a deviation between the user's then current position and the updated checkpoint trajectory to provide a responsive corrective feedback[0006, 0011, 0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing updated guidance based on users position with respect to obstacle meaning responsive corrected feedback and updating trajectory as it is tracking the user and obstacle. See specifically 0037].
Kohn implies, but does not explicitly teach receive information on a destination from the microphone [0016, 0052-0053 has user interacting with the system via audio input microphone meaning 0016, 0052-0053 teaches GPS receiving voice commands since a user would be inputting a destination thorough the microphone]
generate a first path from the visually impaired user's starting position to the destination [0016,0043,0050, 0053-0054 has GPS system which is known to generate paths further evidenced by Moustafa which has GPS doing path planning at 0178-0179, 0585, 0617,0856 all showing GPS being a known way to plan a path]
and based on the first path, …..
operate a closed loop control system via a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller to:
based on obtaining at least one checkpoint along the first path, identify a next checkpoint relative to the visually impaired user's then current position,
generate a checkpoint trajectory between the visually impaired user's then current position and the next checkpoint,
based on information on a location of an obstacle obtained through one or more of the camera or the range sensor, update the checkpoint trajectory to avoid the obstacle
Amariei teaches based on obtaining at least one checkpoint along the first path, identify a next checkpoint relative to the visually impaired user's then current position, [Fig 9 and 10 has milestones #93 which would be checkpoints]
generate a checkpoint trajectory between the visually impaired user's then current position and the next checkpoint, [Fig 9 and 10 has milestones #93 on the map with a path being generated for user is a checkpoint trajectory through the various checkpoints meaning system is avoiding obstacles in path and; Abstract has generation of navigation path]
based on information on a location of an obstacle obtained through one or more of the camera or the range sensor, update the checkpoint trajectory to avoid the obstacle, [Abstract has updating of live map and generating navigation path; Fig 9 and 10 have path for guiding user and has detection of and avoiding obstacles in path]
Moustafa teaches generate a first path from the visually impaired user's starting position to the destination [GPS system which is known to generate paths and shows GPS doing path planning at 0178-0179, 0585, 0617,0856 all showing GPS being a known way to plan a path]…..
a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller[0501 has PID controller to determine desired control signals] to:…..
wherein the PID controller is configured to modulate a spatial coordinate of the 3D sound point value and position based on a …..to provide a responsive corrective feedback[0501 has PID controller for control signals and 0117, 0258, 0624, 0626, 0661 has tracking trajectories of system and obstacles.]
Wikipedia teaches wherein the PID controller is configured to modulate ….. based on a derivative of a deviation between the user's then current position and the updated checkpoint trajectory to provide a responsive corrective feedback. [1st Para teaches that PID is a control loop mechanism employing feedback that is widely used in industrial control systems and a variety of other applications requiring continuously modulated control. Section on PI controller under modifications to algorithm has controller output being derivation of deviation of actual measured value and set point meaning this is merely a description of the known working of a PID controller]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have modified the navigation system in Kohn with the checkpoints, and path generation of Amariei with the GPS ability to generate a path to a given destination in order to use the GPS capability to take advantage of GPS to track, navigate, and guide user and avoid obstacles while using a PID controller of Moustafa as evidenced by the PID derivatives of deviations in Wikipedia to determine desired control signals to guide the user.
Regarding claim 7, Kohn teaches a method of assisting a visually impaired user to navigate a physical environment comprising, the method performed by at least one processor and comprising[ Abstract and Fig 1 and Claim 1 involve assisting visually impaired user #116 in Fig 6 is processor; See also 0050]:
receiving information on the visually impaired user's then current position from one or more of a camera, a range sensor, or a microphone [#112a in fig 1, 4, 6; 0048, 0052 has camera #112d in Fig 6; See also 0048 has radar # 150 in Fig 6 and 0052 has microphone; Abstract; Claim 1, 4 has sensor identifying position and surroundings];
receiving information….. from the microphone[0016, 0052-0053 teaches GPS receiving voice commands];…..
determining in real-time at least one 3D sound point value and position and providing an output to the sound output device[0006, 0011,0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing guidance to the user],
wherein the output to the sound output device comprises a 3D directional sound configured to provide sensory prompts to guide the visually impaired user as the visually impaired user moves along the first path. [0006, 0011, 0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing guidance to the user]…..
wherein the method further comprises operating by operating, by the atleast one processor[user #116 in Fig 6 is processor; See also 0050]…..
based on the updated checkpoint trajectory, determine in real-time at least one 3D sound point value and position, and provide a checkpoint trajectory output to the sound output device. [0006, 0011,0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing guidance to the user]
wherein the method further comprises modulating using the ….. a spatial coordinate of the 3D sound point value and position based on a derivative of a deviation between the user's then current position and the updated checkpoint trajectory to provide a responsive corrective feedback[0006, 0011, 0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing updated guidance based on users position with respect to obstacle meaning responsive corrected feedback and updating trajectory as it is tracking the user and obstacle. See specifically 0037].
Kohn implies, but does not explicitly teach receiving information on a destination from the microphone [0016, 0052-0053 has user interacting with the system via audio input microphone meaning 0016, 0052-0053 teaches GPS receiving voice commands since a user would be inputting a destination thorough the microphone]
generating first path from the visually impaired user's starting position to the destination [0016,0043,0050, 0053-0054 has GPS system which is known to generate paths further evidenced by Moustafa which has GPS doing path planning at 0178-0179, 0585, 0617, 0856, all showing GPS being a known way to plan a path]
and based on the first path,….., a closed loop control system via a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller wherein the operating the closed loop control system comprises:…
Amariei teaches based on obtaining at least one checkpoint along the first path, identifying a next checkpoint relative to the visually impaired user's then current position, [Fig 9 and 10 has milestones #93 which would be checkpoints]
generate a checkpoint trajectory between the visually impaired user's then current position and the next checkpoint, [Fig 9 and 10 has milestones #93 on the map with a path being generated for user is a checkpoint trajectory through the various checkpoints meaning system is avoiding obstacles in path and; Abstract has generation of navigation path]
based on information on a location of an obstacle obtained through one or more of the camera or the range sensor, update the checkpoint trajectory to avoid the obstacle, [Abstract has updating of live map and generating navigation path; Fig 9 and 10 have path for guiding user and has detection of and avoiding obstacles in path]
Moustafa teaches generate a first path from the visually impaired user's starting position to the destination [GPS system which is known to generate paths and shows GPS doing path planning at 0178-0179, 0585, 0617,0856 all showing GPS being a known way to plan a path]…..
a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller[0501 has PID controller to determine desired control signals] to:…..
wherein the method further comprises modulating using the PID controller a spatial coordinate of the 3D sound point value and position based ….. to provide a responsive corrective feedback[0501 has PID controller for control signals and 0117, 0258, 0624, 0626, 0661 has tracking trajectories of system and obstacles]
Wikipedia teaches wherein the method further comprises modulating ….. based on a derivative of a deviation between the user's then current position and the updated checkpoint trajectory to provide a responsive corrective feedback. [1st Para teaches that PID is a control loop mechanism employing feedback that is widely used in industrial control systems and a variety of other applications requiring continuously modulated control. Section on PI controller under modifications to algorithm has controller output being derivation of deviation of actual measured value and set point meaning this is merely a description of the known working of a PID controller]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have modified the navigation system in Kohn with the checkpoints, and path generation of Amariei with the GPS ability to generate a path to a given destination in order to use the GPS capability to take advantage of GPS to track, navigate, and guide user and avoid obstacles while using a PID controller of Moustafa as evidenced by the PID derivatives of deviations in Wikipedia to determine desired control signals to guide the user.
Regarding claim 13, a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored therein, which are executable by a processor to perform a method of assisting a visually impaired user to navigate a physical environment, the method comprising[ Abstract and Fig 1 and Claim 1 involve assisting visually impaired user # 116 in Fig 6 is processor; See also 0050]:
receiving information on the visually impaired user's then current position from one or more of a camera, a range sensor, or a microphone[#1 12a in fig 1, 4, 6; 0048, 0052 has camera; #112d in Fig 6; See also 0048 has radar #150 in Fig 6 and 0052 has microphone; Abstract; Claim 1, 4 has sensor identifying position and surroundings];
receiving information….. from the microphone[0016, 0052-0053 has system getting input from user through microphone];…..
determining in real-time at least one 3D sound point value and position and providing an output to a sound output device[0006, 001 1,0014, 0034,0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is pro viding guidance to the user],
wherein the output to the sound output device comprises a 3D directional sound configured to provide sensory prompts to guide the visually impaired user as the user moves along the first path[ 0006, 0011, 0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing guidance to the user]
wherein the method further comprises operating by operating, by the atleast one processor[user #116 in Fig 6 is processor; See also 0050]…..
and based on the updated checkpoint trajectory, determine in real-time at least one 3D sound point value and position, and provide a checkpoint trajectory output to the sound output device. [0006, 0011,0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing guidance to the user]
wherein the method further comprises modulating using the ….. a spatial coordinate of the 3D sound point value and position based on a derivative of a deviation between the user's then current position and the updated checkpoint trajectory to provide a responsive corrective feedback[0006, 0011, 0014, 0034, 0037, Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user meaning the system is providing updated guidance based on users position with respect to obstacle meaning responsive corrected feedback and updating trajectory as it is tracking the user and obstacle. See specifically 0037].
Kohn implies, but does not explicitly teach receiving information on a destination from the microphone [0016, 0052-0053 has user interacting with the system via audio input microphone meaning 0016, 0052-0053 teaches GPS receiving voice commands since a user would be inputting a destination thorough the microphone]
generating first path from the visually impaired user's starting position to the destination [0016,0043,0050, 0053-0054has GPS system which is known to generate paths further evidenced by Moustafa which has GPS doing path planning at 0178-0179, 0585, 0617, 0856, all showing GPS being a known way to plan a path,]
and based on the first path,…..
Amariei teaches and wherein method further comprises based on obtaining at least one checkpoint along the first path, identify a next checkpoint relative to the visually impaired user's then current position, [Fig 9 and 10 has milestones #93 which would be checkpoints]
generate a checkpoint trajectory between the visually impaired user's then current position and the next checkpoint, [Fig 9 and 10 has milestones #93 on the map with a path being generated for user is a checkpoint trajectory through the various checkpoints meaning system is avoiding obstacles in path and; Abstract has generation of navigation path]
based on information on a location of an obstacle obtained through one or more of the camera or the range sensor, update the checkpoint trajectory to avoid the obstacle, [Abstract has updating of live map and generating navigation path; Fig 9 and 10 have path for guiding user and has detection of and avoiding obstacles in path]
Moustafa teaches generate a first path from the visually impaired user's starting position to the destination [GPS system which is known to generate paths and shows GPS doing path planning at 0178-0179, 0585, 0617,0856 all showing GPS being a known way to plan a path]…..
a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller[0501 has PID controller to determine desired control signals] to:…..
wherein the method further comprises modulating using the PID controller a spatial coordinate of the 3D sound point value and position ….. to provide a responsive corrective feedback[0501 has PID controller for control signals and 0117, 0258, 0624, 0626, 0661 has tracking trajectories of system and obstacles]
Wikipedia teaches wherein the method further comprises modulating ….. position based on a derivative of a deviation between the user's then current position and the updated checkpoint trajectory to provide a responsive corrective feedback. [1st Para teaches that PID is a control loop mechanism employing feedback that is widely used in industrial control systems and a variety of other applications requiring continuously modulated control. Section on PI controller under modifications to algorithm has controller output being derivation of deviation of actual measured value and set point meaning this is merely a description of the known working of a PID controller]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have modified the navigation system in Kohn with the checkpoints, and path generation of Amariei with the GPS ability to generate a path to a given destination in order to use the GPS capability to take advantage of GPS to track, navigate, and guide user and avoid obstacles while using a PID controller of Moustafa as evidenced by the PID derivatives of deviations in Wikipedia to determine desired control signals to guide the user.
Regarding claims 2, 8 and 14, Kohn, as modified, teaches receive the information on the location of the obstacle on the first path from one or more of the camera or the range sensor, and based on the identification of the obstacle on the first path, to alter the first path to avoid the obstacle. [0030, 0039-0041, 0044 has avoiding of obstacles].
Regarding claims 3, 9 and 15, Kohn, as modified, teaches receive information on moving object within a first range of the visually impaired user from one or more of the camera or the range sensor[Abstract; Claim 1, 4 has sensor identifying position and surroundings],
determine a probability of the moving object posing a safety risk to the visually impaired user[0030, 0039-0041, 0044 has avoiding of obstacles and alerting user; Specifically 0039 has alert based on amount being blocked meaning probability],
and based on the probability of the moving object posing the safety risk to the visually impaired user exceeding a threshold, generating a warning signal to the visually impaired user through the sound output device. [0030, 0039-0041, 0044 has avoiding of obstacles and alerting user; Specifically 0039 has alert based on amount being blocked meaning threshold].
Regarding claims 4, 10 and 16, Kohn, as modified, teaches identify the at least one checkpoint along the first path, wherein the at least one checkpoint is located between the visually impaired user's then current position and the destination[0039 has monitoring of users path for obstructions and monitoring of obstacles in the way being checkpoints],
generate a next checkpoint trajectory between the visually impaired user's then current position and the at least one checkpoint[0039] has monitoring of users path for obstructions mount of blockage and proximity at 0041],
and based on the next checkpoint trajectory, determine in real-time at least one 3D sound point value and position and provide a next checkpoint trajectory output to the sound output device[0039, 0041 has sound based on round and obstacle], and
wherein the next checkpoint trajectory output to the sound output device comprises 3D directional sound configured to provide sensory prompts to guide the visually impaired user as the visually impaired user moves along the first path toward the next checkpoint. [0006, 0011, 0014, 0037, and 0041 and Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user].
Regarding claims 5, 11 and 17, Kohn, as modified, teaches a GPS receiver, wherein the information on the visually impaired user's then current position is received from one or more of the camera, the range sensor, the microphone, or the GPS receiver. [0043 has GPS component #70 in fig 1].
Regarding claims 6, 12 and 18, Kohn, as modifed, teaches receive real-time update information on the visually impaired user's then current position as the visually impaired user moves along the first path, and[0008 -0010, 0039, 0043, 0044 all mention real time monitoring of user and obstacles]
provide the real-time update information to a ….. controller, wherein the….. controller is configured to determine whether the user has deviated from the first path, and based on a determination that the visually impaired user has deviated from the first path, to determine in real- time at least one corrective 3D sound point value and position and provide a corrective output to the sound output device, has monitoring of users path for obstructions amount of blockage and proximity at 0041 and 0030, 0039-0041, 0044 has avoiding of obstacles and alerting user, Specifically 0039 has alert based on amount being blocked meaning corrective output to avoid obstacle]
wherein the corrective output to the sound output device comprises 3D directional sound configured to provide sensory prompts to guide the visually impaired user in a direction that will reduce a difference between the visually impaired user's then current position and the first path. [0006, 0011, 0014, 0037, and 0041 and Claim 1 have directional sound to indicate position of obstacle to user].
Kohn does not explicitly teach a PID.
Moustafa teaches a PID)[0501 has a PID controller to determine desired control signals ie guidance to user]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have modified the navigation system in Kohn with the PID controller of Moustafa in order to determine desired control signals to guide the user.
Regarding claims 19 and 20, Kohn, as modified, based on the information on the location of the obstacle on the first path, [0012, 0032, 0043-0048 and claim 4 has camera and 0038-0042 has alerting user to obstacle based on sensor],
Kohn does not explicitly teach cause the vibrotactile actuator to vibrate.
Moustafa teaches cause the vibrotactile actuator to vibrate. [0537 -0538 has vibration to alert the user]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have modified the navigation system in Kohn with the vibration alert in Moustafa in order to warn or alert the user to something important.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Specifically applicant is reading the prior art overly narrowly with regards to phrases such as “walkable tunnel” “waypoint” as compared to “updating” map or trajectory. It is the combination of the prior art as understood as a whole that a person of ordinary skill would find as obvious. Here a person of ordinary skill would understand the concept of using a GPS to “update” a map or “trajectory” Applicants argument here 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.
Applicant’s amended claim limitation “modulating 3D sound coordinates using a derivative value of the deviation” is not found to have support anywhere in the specification. The word derivative only appears 5 times as part of the PID controller. The word modulate or modulation does not appear at all. As such this claim limitation is either not supported by the specification or if it is understood by a person of ordinary skill then it is merely describing the ordinary working of the PID controller.
With regards to the PID controller and the description provided the amendments appear to merely describe the normal working of a PID and do not carry much patentable weight as it appears the applicant is claiming the normal working of a known device that is a feedback-based control loop mechanism commonly used to manage processes that require continuous control and automatic adjustment.
It is also pointed out the use of a PID controller would also have been an obvious matter of design choice, since applicant has not disclosed that a PID solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears that the invention would perform equally well with it or any other known device.
Moreover its use for a blind person would be a matter of intended use and it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987). As such the language would not hold much patentable weight.
Applicant's remaining arguments 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. Rejections are maintained – and no allowable subject matter can be identified at this time.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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.
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/VIKAS ATMAKURI/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/HELAL A ALGAHAIM/SPE , Art Unit 3645
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