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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/06/2025 has been entered.
Claims 1-4, 6-10, 12-16 and 18-20 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 1-5, 7-11 and 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kohn (US 20170213478 A1) in view of Amariei (US 12044541 B2) and evidenced by Moustafa (US 20220126864 A1).
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[#1 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 formation 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[001 6, 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 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]
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, and…..
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]
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.
Regarding claim 7, Kohn discloses 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 #1 16 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, 005 2 has camer; #1 12d 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 a 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 a 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]
…..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]
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, ...
Amariei teaches and wherein method further comprises 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]
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.
Regarding claim 13, Kohn discloses 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; #1 12d 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 a 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]……
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]
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]
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.
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 a 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 amount 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 discloses 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].
Claims 6, 12, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kohn (US 20170213478 A1) as applied to claims 1, 7 and 13 above, and further in view of above, and further in view of Moustafa (US 20220126864 A1) or Ma (US 20170244942 A1).
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,[0039 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 Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID).
Moustafa teaches a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID)[0051 has a PID controller to determine desired control signals ie guidance to user]
Ma teaches a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID)[0046 and 0053 has a PID controller to track and control motion; 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 or Ma 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 does not explicitly teach 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 11/06/2025 have been fully considered but they are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Regarding applicant’s arguments concerning addressing the arguments, it is pointed out that the dependent claims 2, 8, 14 and claims 4, 10 and 16 had been amended and were rejected by the prior art in the previous rejection and as such their arguments had been addressed by the rejection as well as being addressed in the Response to amendments section of the Final rejection.
Regarding Applicant arguments concerning independent claims 1, 7 and 13, Applicant is reading the prior overly narrowly. In response to applicant's argument regarding reactive and proactive paths and use of the word “checkpoint trajectory” In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., proactive or reactive process) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). With regards to “checkpoint trajectory” it is pointed out in the above rejection that the claim concerns detecting obstacles and routing to avoid them. The prior art clearly has obstacle detection and avoidance as any detection and avoiding of obstacles in a persons path is clearly a “checkpoint trajectory”.
Regarding applicant’s arguments concerning claims 2, 8 and 14 over a path it is again pointed out that the fact that a GPS plots a path is well known to a person of ordinary skill in the art and the prior art reads on the claim. It is pointed out that the very invention of Kohn as seen in the Title, Abstract and Claim 1 all involve pathfinding and as pointed to in the rejection 0016, 0043, 0050, 0053-0054 has GPS system which is known to generate paths further evidencedby Moustafa which has GPS doing path planning at 0178-0179, 0585, 0617, 0856 all showing GPS being a known way to plan a path.
Furthermore other pertinent art such as Maheriya (US 9792501 B1) has object avoidance in Col 6, Lines 1-10. See also abstract for guiding visually impaired users haptic or sound as shown in Col 7, Lines 40-50.
Shlomot (US 20220065650 A1) similarly has the abstract addressing guiding the blind with obstacle avoidance in 0030-0036.
Alberson (US 8588464 B2) similarly has the abstract addressing guiding the blind with path prediction and obstacle avoidance in Col 23 as well.
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
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/VIKAS ATMAKURI/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/ISAM A ALSOMIRI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645