/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 November 3, 2025 has been entered. Claims 1-16 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the Drawings and Claims have overcome each and every objection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed May 1, 2025. Previous claim interpretations under 35 USC 112(f) in the Non-Final Office Action mailed May 1, 2025 are no longer interpreted under 35 USC 112(f).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 12-13 of Remarks, filed November 3, 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-16 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Onrust et al. (Procedural generation and interactive web visualization of natural environments) and Dittrich et al. (Probabilistic Modeling of Real-world Scenes in a Virtual Environment).
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: “20” and “21” in Fig. 1. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 1-3 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (KR102376390 B1) in view of Onrust et al. (Procedural generation and interactive web visualization of natural environments), Dittrich et al. (Probabilistic Modeling of Real-world Scenes in a Virtual Environment), and Etwaru (US 20230334790 A1), hereinafter Lee, Onrust, Dittrich, and Etwaru respectively.
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a metaverse system (Paragraph 0030 – “a system (10) providing a metaverse operation service”) comprising:
a metaverse server (Paragraph 0030 – “a metaverse operation server (100)”);
and at least one metaverse terminal configured to receive and play metaverse content (Paragraph 0053 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can display a metaverse space interface (300) through a user terminal (200) so that the user can visually recognize the metaverse space so that the user can directly configure the metaverse space”; Note: the user terminal, which is the metaverse terminal, receives and plays the metaverse space interface, which is the metaverse content),
wherein the metaverse server comprises:
at least one processor (Paragraph 0096 – “the metaverse operation server (100) may include at least one processor (110)”),
and at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor, by executing program command sets stored in the at least one memory (Paragraph 0096-0097 – “the metaverse operation server (100) may include at least one processor (110) and a memory that stores instructions that instruct the at least one processor (110) to perform at least one operation. At least one of the above operations may include at least some of the operations or functions of the metaverse operation server (100) and may be implemented in the form of commands and performed by the processor (110)”), is configured to perform:
an object information collection operation to detect objects in a target space by analyzing an image captured through at least one camera (Paragraph 0060 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can obtain multidirectional image data to create the user's real space as a metaverse space (e.g., BJ room). Multidirectional image data may refer to video and/or panoramic images captured by a single camera”; Note: an image that is captured through a camera is analyzed) and collect attribute information (Paragraph 0054 – “The user terminal (200) can receive spatial information from the user through the metaverse spatial interface and transmit the received spatial information to the metaverse space creation unit (102). The above spatial information may include information about terrain, information about features, information about facilities, and information about other objects”; Note: the server collects attribute information, such as information about features, from the terminal) and action pattern information of each of the detected objects (Paragraph 0041 – “The information acquisition unit (101) can acquire image information about real objects existing in real space. The information acquisition unit (101) can acquire information on the user's movements acquired by a motion sensor mounted on the user terminal (200)”; Note: the combination of the information acquisition and metaverse space creation is equivalent to the object information collection operation. It collects object information, including user movement, which is equivalent to the action pattern information);
a first virtual object generation operation to process the collected object- specific attribute information (Paragraph 0054 – “The user terminal (200) can receive spatial information from the user through the metaverse spatial interface and transmit the received spatial information to the metaverse space creation unit (102). The above spatial information may include information about terrain, information about features, information about facilities, and information about other objects”; Note: the metaverse space creation unit collects attribute information, such as information about features, from the terminal) and generate virtual objects (Paragraph 0043 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can create a metaverse space and an object to be placed in the metaverse space. The metaverse space creation unit (102) can create avatars for each user and objects (e.g., virtual natural objects, virtual facilities, etc.) that are distinct from the avatars”; Note: the metaverse space creation is the equivalent to the virtual object generation operation, and it generates virtual objects);
a first virtual object placement operation to generate object placement information for placing the generated virtual objects in a virtual space accurately modeled from the target space (Paragraph 0043-0044, 0059 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can create a metaverse space and an object to be placed in the metaverse space. The metaverse space creation unit (102) can create avatars for each user and objects (e.g., virtual natural objects, virtual facilities, etc.) that are distinct from the avatars…the metaverse space creation unit (102) can obtain real space information of the first user and create a metaverse space based on the obtained real space information. Real-space information may include image data about the user's real-space”; Note: the metaverse space creation is the equivalent to the first virtual object placement operation because it obtains object placement information based on the real space and places the objects based on the real space);
a first virtual object motion control operation to process the collected object-specific action pattern information and generate object motion data for controlling motions of the virtual objects placed in the virtual space (Paragraph 0067-0069 – “The avatar control unit (104) can control the movement of the avatar based on the user's dynamic motion. The avatar control unit (104) can control the movement of the avatar based on image data acquired through at least two cameras that capture the user and depth data acquired through at least two depth detection sensors… The avatar control unit (104) can calculate a motion vector for each of a plurality of clusters, change the coordinates of the vertices constituting the avatar based on the calculated motion vectors, and control the movement of the user's avatar based on the coordinates of the changed vertices”; Note: the avatar control is the equivalent to the first virtual object motion control operation, and the avatar is equivalent to the virtual object);
and a metaverse content transmission operation to transmit the metaverse content to a connected terminal (Paragraph 0053 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can display a metaverse space interface (300) through a user terminal (200)”; Note: it is inherent that there is a metaverse content transmission operation in order for the metaverse server to display the metaverse space interface, which is the metaverse content, on the user terminal).
Lee does not teach a first virtual object generation operation to statistically process the collected object-specific attribute information and generate virtual objects such that attributes of the objects in the target space and attributes of the virtual objects in a virtual space numerically match based on the statistics. However, Onrust teaches statistically processing the collected object-specific attribute information and generating virtual objects such that attributes of the objects in the target space and attributes of the virtual objects in a virtual space numerically match based on the statistics (Paragraph 2-3 in 1st Col. of Page 4 – “the inputs of our algorithm are…Statistics about the coverage per plant species, and about the patchiness of each plant species… The goal of this framework is to translate landscape maps obtained from either ecologically or geographical data sets to an ecological sound plant distribution and generate from this distribution a real-time 3D web-based visualization…The input coverage and patchiness statistics with various landscape maps should match with the statistics of the generated plant distribution”; Note: statistical information about plant species and patchiness, which are a type of object attribute, are collected. Visualizations of the plants are generated, and the statistical information of the visualizations match the statistical information of the real plants). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Onrust to statistically process object attributes and generate objects based on those statistics for the benefit of generating “an ecologically convincing plant distribution from ecological input maps” and generating “a visually convincing interactive 3D web-based visualization for natural environments with high-density and variety in plants” (Onrust: Paragraph 3 in 1st Col. of Page 2). It would also decrease the load required to generate objects since objects and attributes do not need to be mapped one-by-one; they can instead be mapped based on a distribution. While Onrust is specific to plants, the general concept of using distributions to visualize objects in a virtual environment would be useful for any kind of object, as people can generate virtual environments resembling any type of location.
Lee modified by Onrust still does not teach a first virtual object motion control operation to statistically process the collected object-specific action pattern information and generate object motion data for controlling motions of the virtual objects placed in the virtual space such that behaviors of the objects in the target space and behaviors of the virtual objects in the virtual space statistically match based on the statistics. However, Dittrich teaches statistically processing the collected object-specific action pattern information (Paragraph 3 in 2nd Col. of Page 3 – “we want to show how to probabilistically model the object parameters pi of all objects oi in a mixed joint density function (JDF). The parameters are thereby restricted for all objects to the transformation, with p = (x,α), where x = (x, y,z) depicts the translation in the scene, and α is the scalar rotation angle in the scene floor plane. In case of human objects, the parameters are extended to p = (x,α, c), where c is a discrete value which depicts the choreography type”; Note: a statistical model is created to process action pattern information, including rotations, translations, and human choreography. The collected object-specific action pattern information was also previously taught by Lee earlier in the rejection) and generating object motion data for controlling motions of the virtual objects placed in the virtual space such that behaviors of the objects in the target space and behaviors of the virtual objects in the virtual space statistically match based on the statistics (Paragraph 3 in 1st Col. of Page 7, Paragraph 2 in 1st Col. of Page 8 – “Based on the probabilistic model of the scene, we can now generate virtual scene instances by sampling from that model. The parameters of the static objects are thereby considered constant for all scene instances, and are entered as evidence in the sampling process… The third line of Fig.7 shows the results of the scene sampling when using the before described sophisticated model. Because of the expert knowledge implemented in the model, the chair is always close to the table, the human is either close to the table or somewhere in the broader surrounding area of the table, and the plant is always on top of the table”; Note: Fig. 7 demonstrates the generated object motion data since it displays how the objects can move in the scene. The movement is statistically based on the statistical model that was generated based on action information of the objects. See screenshot of Fig. 7 below). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Dittrich to statistically process object actions and generate objects based on those statistics for the benefit of producing a generic representation of the environment. If an environment is complex, it would be difficult and inefficient to represent the entirety of it in a virtual space. Therefore, a generic representation would help decrease the load required to generate objects since objects and actions do not need to be mapped one-by-one; they can instead be mapped by a pre-defined statistical model.
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Screenshot of Fig. 7 (taken from Dittrich)
Lee modified by Onrust and Dittrich still does not teach the “metaverse” aspect of the limitations: “a first rendering operation to render metaverse content using the virtual space, the object placement information, and the object motion data” and “a metaverse content transmission operation to transmit the rendered metaverse content to a connected terminal”. However, Etwaru teaches a first rendering operation to render metaverse content using the virtual space, the object placement information, and the object motion data (Paragraph 0238 – “rendering can be performed on the external device on the network (e.g., a server hosted in a cloud), and generated images can be provided to the user device 20. In some cases, images can be pre-rendered based on a predicted range of motion of a user's head, and a subset of all possible renderings can be provided to the user device 20, based on the predicted range of motion. The external device can thus generate renderings of the virtual environment corresponding to each viewing angle in the predicted range of motion of the user's head, and the renderings can be provided to the user's device to increase a speed of rendering of the virtual environment on the user's device”; Note: it is inherent that there must be a rendering operation on the server in order for rendering to be performed. Rendering of the metaverse content is performed using the virtual environment and user information, wherein the user’s head is considered an object). Etwaru further teaches rendered metaverse content (Paragraph 0238 – “renderings of the virtual environment”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Etwaru to have a rendering operation in a server to render the metaverse content for the benefit of increasing the “speed of rendering of the virtual environment” (Etwaru: Paragraph 0238). It would reduce the load on the user terminal and make the rendering process more efficient since the server handles it.
Regarding claim 2, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, and Etwaru teaches the metaverse system of claim 1. Lee further teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform a virtual space generation operation to generate the virtual space accurately modeled from the target space based on space information (Paragraph 0059 – “the metaverse space creation unit (102) may obtain spatial information about a space that a first user (e.g., host; BJ) wishes to configure, and create a metaverse space based on the obtained spatial information. For example, the metaverse space creation unit (102) can obtain real space information of the first user and create a metaverse space based on the obtained real space information”; Note: a virtual space is generated based on spatial information. The metaverse space creation is equivalent to the virtual space generation operation) and placement information (Paragraph 0044 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can place virtual facilities within the metaverse space based on the avatar's path. For example, the metaverse space creation unit (102) can track the paths of avatars, and if the paths of the tracked avatars form a certain pattern, a virtual road can be created and placed according to the formed pattern”; Note: The virtual space can be generated using path information, which is type of placement information) of things collected from the target space and a captured image of the target space (Paragraph 0060 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can obtain multidirectional image data to create the user's real space as a metaverse space (e.g., BJ room). Multidirectional image data may refer to video and/or panoramic images captured by a single camera”; Note: there is a captured image of the target space used to generate the metaverse space).
Regarding claim 3, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, and Etwaru teaches the metaverse system of claim 2. Lee further teaches wherein the virtual space generation operation collects external environment information and generates the virtual space reflecting the external environment information (Paragraph 0059 – “the metaverse space creation unit (102) may obtain spatial information about a space that a first user (e.g., host; BJ) wishes to configure, and create a metaverse space based on the obtained spatial information. For example, the metaverse space creation unit (102) can obtain real space information of the first user and create a metaverse space based on the obtained real space information”; Note: real space information, which is equivalent to the external environment information, is collected by the metaverse space creation unit, which is equivalent to the virtual space generation operation, and a metaverse space is generated to reflect the information).
Regarding claim 5, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, and Etwaru teaches the metaverse system of claim 1. Lee further teaches wherein the virtual space is divided into multiple areas (Paragraph 0073 – “The movement area determination unit (105) can divide the ground surface of the metaverse space into a plurality of cells”). Lee does not teach wherein the object information collection operation collects object number information from each area of the target space corresponding to the virtual space, and the first virtual object placement operation places the objects in the areas of the virtual space based on the collected area-specific object number information. However, Etwaru teaches collecting object number information from each area of the target space corresponding to the virtual space (Paragraph 0173, 0175 – “a virtual environment can include more than 4 layers or less than 4 layers…FIG. 7C shows schematic views 808, 810 of the office example above, divided into two layers: a layer A and a layer B, wherein the office additionally includes a second apple (a third object) and a second book (a fourth object) disposed proximal and aligned in the z-direction with the first apple (the first object) on the desk and the first book (the second object) on the coffee table, respectively, before any shifting of the user. Notably, because there are only two layers, both of the apples are disposed in layer A and both of the books are disposed in layer B”; Note: the virtual space is divided into multiple layers, or areas, and each area has a designated number of objects corresponding to the number of objects in the target space), and placing the objects in the areas of the virtual space based on the collected area-specific object number information (Paragraph 0175 – “FIG. 7C shows schematic views 808, 810 of the office example above, divided into two layers: a layer A and a layer B, wherein the office additionally includes a second apple (a third object) and a second book (a fourth object) disposed proximal and aligned in the z-direction with the first apple (the first object) on the desk and the first book (the second object) on the coffee table, respectively, before any shifting of the user. Notably, because there are only two layers, both of the apples are disposed in layer A and both of the books are disposed in layer B”; Note: it is inherent that the objects are placed into the layers of the virtual environment based on the number of objects in the corresponding area in the target space). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Etwaru to place virtual objects based on the number of objects in each area of a target space, so that “the layers can be manipulated to mimic real world physics” (Etwaru: Paragraph 0055-0056). Since Lee already has divided areas within the virtual space, placing objects by a specific object amount would help in organizing the virtual space and better representing the real-world space.
Regarding claim 6, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, and Etwaru teaches the metaverse system of claim 1. Lee further teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform a first avatar control operation to place a user avatar in the virtual space (Paragraph 0008, 0046 – “an avatar, which is a virtual object to be placed in the metaverse space…The avatar control unit (104) can control the movement of the avatar to correspond to the movement of the user based on information about the user's movement acquired through the information acquisition unit (101)”; Note: the avatar control is the equivalent to the first avatar control operation). Lee does not teach a first avatar control operation to place a user avatar having attributes, which are set by a user who accesses the metaverse server, in the virtual space, and the first rendering operation renders the metaverse content from the user avatar's point of view. However, Etwaru teaches having attributes, which are set by a user who accesses the metaverse server (Paragraph 0180 – “user parameters can be determined using approximate known dimensions or ratios for features of a user, including facial features…The approximate distance between a person's eyes can be a known value. Such a distance can be, for example, input by the user as part of a user profile, measured using a standardized measurement or reference measurement, or be a standardized value representing a mean eye-to-eye distance. Such a standardized value can be generalized for a suitable demographic, such as age, sex, ethnicity, or the like”; Note: user parameters, which is equivalent to the user attributes, can be set by the user in a user profile), and the first rendering operation renders the metaverse content from the user avatar's point of view (Paragraph 0193 – “the device 701 can adjust the position and rendering of the new digital object—the 3D model of the vehicle—to be accurate relative to the new user's perspective”; Note: metaverse content, which is the 3D model of the vehicle in this case, is rendered from the user’s perspective). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Etwaru to allow the user to set their avatar attributes because it is a common feature in the art to provide avatar customizability, as it enhances the user experience. It also would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Etwaru to render the metaverse content from the user avatar’s point of view for the benefit of making the virtual environment appear more realistic to the user experience.
Regarding claim 7, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, and Etwaru teaches the metaverse system of claim 6. Lee further teaches wherein the metaverse terminal transmits motion control commands for the user avatar received via a user interface (UI) to the metaverse server (Paragraph 0033 – “The metaverse operation server (100) can control the movement of the avatar according to the user's input of pressing the arrow keys or preset keys of the keyboard included in the user terminal (200)”; Note: the metaverse server receives motion control commands, which is in the form of pressing keys, from a user interface, which is in the form of a keyboard that is part of the metaverse terminal), and the first avatar control operation generates object motion data for controlling motions of the user avatar placed in the virtual space (Paragraph 0067-0069 – “The avatar control unit (104) can control the movement of the avatar based on the user's dynamic motion. The avatar control unit (104) can control the movement of the avatar based on image data acquired through at least two cameras that capture the user and depth data acquired through at least two depth detection sensors… The avatar control unit (104) can calculate a motion vector for each of a plurality of clusters, change the coordinates of the vertices constituting the avatar based on the calculated motion vectors, and control the movement of the user's avatar based on the coordinates of the changed vertices”; Note: the avatar control is the equivalent to the first avatar control operation, and the motion vector is the equivalent to the motion data).
Regarding claim 8, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, and Etwaru teaches the metaverse system of claim 6. Lee further teaches wherein the metaverse terminal comprises a sensor configured to detect the user's motion and generate a motion control command for the user avatar, and transmits the generated motion control command for the user avatar to the metaverse server (Paragraph 0041, 0046 – “The information acquisition unit (101) can acquire information on the user's movements acquired by a motion sensor mounted on the user terminal (200). Information about the above movement may include static motion and dynamic motion…The avatar control unit (104) can control the movement of the avatar to correspond to the movement of the user based on information about the user's movement acquired through the information acquisition unit (101)”; Note: the user terminal has a sensor mounted on it that detects motion and generates motion information. The motion information is used in the information acquisition unit and avatar control unit, which are part of the metaverse server), and the first avatar control operation generates object motion data for controlling a motion of the user avatar placed in the virtual space (Paragraph 0046, 0069 – “The avatar control unit (104) can control the movement of the avatar to correspond to the movement of the user based on information about the user's movement acquired through the information acquisition unit (101).… The avatar control unit (104) can calculate a motion vector for each of a plurality of clusters, change the coordinates of the vertices constituting the avatar based on the calculated motion vectors, and control the movement of the user's avatar based on the coordinates of the changed vertices”; Note: the avatar control is the equivalent to the first avatar control operation, and the motion vector is the equivalent to the motion data).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, and Kim et al. (KR 101178494 B1), hereinafter Kim.
Regarding claim 4, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, and Etwaru teaches the metaverse system of claim 1. Lee does not teach wherein the object information collection operation additionally collects object information and object attribute information from access information of a wireless communication connection device in the target space. However, Kim teaches collecting object information and object attribute information from access information of a wireless communication connection device (Paragraph 0039, 0044 – “the new wireless communication device is a device that allows connection, and the connection message may include IP (Internet Protocol), MAC (Media Access Control), SSID (Service Set Identifier), and BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier) information… the agent (110) can collect wireless communication access point (AP) information recognized by the client PC (130) and provide it to the server (120)”; Note: the server collects object information, including MAC address and IP address, from a wireless communication connection device). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Kim to collect object and attribute information from access information of a wireless communication device for the benefit of making it easier to know what devices are within a target space (Kim: Paragraph 0005-0006). It also may help with keeping track of how many users are in the target space.
Claims 9-11 and 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, and Park et al. (US 9338200 B2), hereinafter Park.
Regarding claim 9, Lee teaches a metaverse system (Paragraph 0030 – “a system (10) providing a metaverse operation service”) comprising
a metaverse server (Paragraph 0030 – “a metaverse operation server (100)”) and at least one metaverse terminal (Paragraph 0053 – “a user terminal (200)”), wherein the metaverse server comprises:
at least one processor (Paragraph 0096 – “the metaverse operation server (100) may include at least one processor (110)”),
and at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor, by executing program command sets stored in the at least one memory (Paragraph 0096-0097 – “the metaverse operation server (100) may include at least one processor (110) and a memory that stores instructions that instruct the at least one processor (110) to perform at least one operation. At least one of the above operations may include at least some of the operations or functions of the metaverse operation server (100) and may be implemented in the form of commands and performed by the processor (110)”), is configured to perform:
an object information collection operation to detect objects in a target space by analyzing an image captured in real time through at least one camera (Paragraph 0060 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can obtain multidirectional image data to create the user's real space as a metaverse space (e.g., BJ room). Multidirectional image data may refer to video and/or panoramic images captured by a single camera”; Note: an image that is captured through a camera is analyzed) and collect attribute information (Paragraph 0054 – “The user terminal (200) can receive spatial information from the user through the metaverse spatial interface and transmit the received spatial information to the metaverse space creation unit (102). The above spatial information may include information about terrain, information about features, information about facilities, and information about other objects”; Note: the server collects attribute information, such as information about features, from the terminal) and action pattern information of each of the detected objects (Paragraph 0041 – “The information acquisition unit (101) can acquire image information about real objects existing in real space. The information acquisition unit (101) can acquire information on the user's movements acquired by a motion sensor mounted on the user terminal (200)”; Note: the combination of the information acquisition and metaverse space creation is equivalent to the object information collection operation. It collects object information, including user movement, which is equivalent to the action pattern information);
and a metaverse data transmission operation to transmit modeling data of a virtual space accurately modeled from the target space and collected object-specific attribute information and action pattern information to a connected terminal (Paragraph 0043, 0053 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can create a metaverse space and an object to be placed in the metaverse space…The metaverse space creation unit (102) can display a metaverse space interface (300) through a user terminal (200)”; Note: it is inherent that there is a metaverse content transmission operation in order for the metaverse server to display the metaverse space interface, which is the virtual space and its objects, on the user terminal),
and the metaverse terminal comprises:
at least one processor (Paragraph 0037 – “The user terminal (200) is a VR (virtual reality) device and/or an AR (augmented reality) device, and may be a head mounted display (HMD), a communicative desktop computer, a laptop computer…”; Note: it is implied that the user terminal has a processor because it would not be able to function without one, and all computers have at least one processor)
and at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor, by executing program command sets stored in the at least one memory (Paragraph 0037 – “The user terminal (200) is a VR (virtual reality) device and/or an AR (augmented reality) device, and may be a head mounted display (HMD), a communicative desktop computer, a laptop computer…”; Note: it is implied that the user terminal has a memory storing program command sets because it would not be able to function without code or a memory to store the code, and all computers have at least some kind of memory), is configured to perform:
a metaverse player to play the rendered metaverse content (Paragraph 0053 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can display a metaverse space interface (300) through a user terminal (200)”; Note: it is inherent that the metaverse terminal would have a metaverse player since it can display the metaverse space interface).
Lee does not teach the metaverse terminal comprising: a second virtual object generation operation to statistically process the collected object-specific attribute information and generate virtual objects such that attributes of the objects in the target space and attributes of the virtual objects in a virtual space numerically match based on the statistics; a second virtual object placement operation to generate object placement information for placing the generated virtual objects in the virtual space; a second virtual object motion control operation to statistically process the collected object-specific action pattern information and generate object motion data for controlling motions of the virtual objects placed in the virtual space such that behaviors of the objects in the target space and behaviors of the virtual objects in the virtual space statistically match based on the statistics; nor a second rendering operation to render metaverse content in real time using the virtual space modeling data, the object placement information, and the object motion data.
However, Park teaches a metaverse terminal (Col. 5 lines 51-55 – “the metaverse client terminal 100”) comprising
a second virtual object generation operation to process the collected object- specific attribute information and generate virtual objects (Col. 7 lines 65-67, Col. 8 lines 1-8 – “the metaverse space provision unit 150 generates an avatar moving in conjunction with the motion of the user based on the movement information data and action information data of the user that is provided by the motion state determination unit 140. Meanwhile, the metaverse space provision unit 150 also generates an avatar moving in conjunction with the motion of another user based on the movement information data and action information data of the other user that is received from the metaverse server 500 via the server interface unit 160”; Note: the metaverse space provision is the equivalent to the virtual object generation operation. Additionally, the avatar is a virtual object, and the movement information data is the attribute information);
a second virtual object placement operation to generate object placement information for placing the generated virtual objects in the virtual space (Col. 5 lines 51-55 – “the metaverse client terminal 100 may collect information about the speed of the user 10 through an actuator that adjusts the speed of the treadmill 30, may analyze it, and may determine the speed or location of the avatar 12 in the metaverse space 1”; Note: the virtual object placement operation is inherent in the metaverse terminal because it generates location information of the user, which is equivalent to the object placement information, in order to place the avatar in the metaverse space based on the location of the user in the target space);
and a second virtual object motion control operation to process the received object-specific action pattern information and generate object motion data for controlling motions of the virtual objects placed in the virtual space (Col. 7 lines 25-43, 50-54 – “The motion state determination unit 140 determines the motion state of the user based on the sensing data received from the sensing data analysis unit 130, and generates state information data regarding the determined motion state of the user...if the sensing data collected and transferred by the sensing data collection unit 120 corresponds to sensing data regarding the action (for example, standing up, or waving his or her hand) of the user, the motion state determination unit 140 generates action information data used to determine the motion of the action of the avatar representative of the user in the metaverse space as user state information data…the motion state determination unit 140 provides the data to the metaverse space provision unit 150, and causes the metaverse space control unit 150 to control the motion of the avatar representative of the user in the metaverse space in conjunction with the motion of the user”; Note: the motion state determination is the equivalent to the virtual object motion control operation, and the avatar is equivalent to the virtual object).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Park to have a virtual object generation operation in the terminal for the benefit of having virtual objects, like avatars, so that users can interact with each other, which is an important part of the metaverse. Additionally, having the virtual object generation operation in the terminal allows for different avatars generated by different terminals to be incorporated in the same space (Park: Col. 8 lines 7-16). It also would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Park to have a virtual object placement operation in the terminal for the benefit of properly representing the user in the virtual space by associating its avatar with a respective location. Additionally, it would be easier for the terminal to track the user’s location (Park: Col. 6 lines 5-17) in order to place the user’s avatar. Finally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Park to have a virtual object motion control operation in the terminal for the benefit of allowing users express themselves through avatar actions. Additionally, it would be easier for the terminal to track the user’s movement because it is common for metaverse terminals to have sensors (Park: Col. 7 lines 7-14).
Lee modified by Park still does not teach a second virtual object generation operation to statistically process the collected object-specific attribute information and generate virtual objects such that attributes of the objects in the target space and attributes of the virtual objects in a virtual space numerically match based on the statistics. However, Onrust teaches statistically processing the collected object-specific attribute information and generating virtual objects such that attributes of the objects in the target space and attributes of the virtual objects in a virtual space numerically match based on the statistics (Paragraph 2-3 in 1st Col. of Page 4 – “the inputs of our algorithm are…Statistics about the coverage per plant species, and about the patchiness of each plant species… The goal of this framework is to translate landscape maps obtained from either ecologically or geographical data sets to an ecological sound plant distribution and generate from this distribution a real-time 3D web-based visualization…The input coverage and patchiness statistics with various landscape maps should match with the statistics of the generated plant distribution”; Note: statistical information about plant species and patchiness, which are a type of object attribute, are collected. Visualizations of the plants are generated, and the statistical information of the visualizations match the statistical information of the real plants). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Onrust to statistically process object attributes and generate objects based on those statistics for the benefit of generating “an ecologically convincing plant distribution from ecological input maps” and generating “a visually convincing interactive 3D web-based visualization for natural environments with high-density and variety in plants” (Onrust: Paragraph 3 in 1st Col. of Page 2). It would also decrease the load required to generate objects since objects and attributes do not need to be mapped one-by-one; they can instead be mapped based on a distribution. While Onrust is specific to plants, the general concept of using distributions to visualize objects in a virtual environment would be useful for any kind of object, as people can generate virtual environments resembling any type of location.
Lee modified by Park and Onrust still does not teach a second virtual object motion control operation to statistically process the collected object-specific action pattern information and generate object motion data for controlling motions of the virtual objects placed in the virtual space such that behaviors of the objects in the target space and behaviors of the virtual objects in the virtual space statistically match based on the statistics. However, Dittrich teaches statistically processing the collected object-specific action pattern information (Paragraph 3 in 2nd Col. of Page 3 – “we want to show how to probabilistically model the object parameters pi of all objects oi in a mixed joint density function (JDF). The parameters are thereby restricted for all objects to the transformation, with p = (x,α), where x = (x, y,z) depicts the translation in the scene, and α is the scalar rotation angle in the scene floor plane. In case of human objects, the parameters are extended to p = (x,α, c), where c is a discrete value which depicts the choreography type”; Note: a statistical model is created to process action pattern information, including rotations, translations, and human choreography. The collected object-specific action pattern information was also previously taught by Lee earlier in the rejection) and generating object motion data for controlling motions of the virtual objects placed in the virtual space such that behaviors of the objects in the target space and behaviors of the virtual objects in the virtual space statistically match based on the statistics (Paragraph 3 in 1st Col. of Page 7, Paragraph 2 in 1st Col. of Page 8 – “Based on the probabilistic model of the scene, we can now generate virtual scene instances by sampling from that model. The parameters of the static objects are thereby considered constant for all scene instances, and are entered as evidence in the sampling process… The third line of Fig.7 shows the results of the scene sampling when using the before described sophisticated model. Because of the expert knowledge implemented in the model, the chair is always close to the table, the human is either close to the table or somewhere in the broader surrounding area of the table, and the plant is always on top of the table”; Note: Fig. 7 demonstrates the generated object motion data since it displays how the objects can move in the scene. The movement is statistically based on the statistical model that was generated based on action information of the objects. See screenshot of Fig. 7 above). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Dittrich to statistically process object actions and generate objects based on those statistics for the benefit of producing a generic representation of the environment. If an environment is complex, it would be difficult and inefficient to represent the entirety of it in a virtual space. Therefore, a generic representation would help decrease the load required to generate objects since objects and actions do not need to be mapped one-by-one; they can instead be mapped by a pre-defined statistical model.
Finally, Lee modified by Park, Onrust, and Dittrich still does not teach a second rendering operation to render metaverse content in real time using the virtual space modeling data, the object placement information, and the object motion data. However, Etwaru teaches a second rendering operation to render metaverse content using the virtual space, the object placement information, and the object motion data (Paragraph 0138 – “the first device 701 can render the associated digital content (or the assembled individual portions) over the surface area's shape and perimeter using the size and location information”; Note: The first device is a user terminal. It is inherent that there must be a rendering operation on the terminal in order for rendering to be performed. Rendering of the digital content, which is the metaverse content, is performed using the surface area, which is the virtual space, and location information, which is the object placement and motion information). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Etwaru to have a rendering operation in the terminal to render the metaverse content for the benefit of still being able to view and access the metaverse even when there is not access to a server.
Regarding claim 10, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, and Park teach the metaverse system of claim 9. Lee further teaches wherein the at least one processor of the metaverse server is further configured to perform a virtual space generation operation to generate the virtual space accurately modeled from the target space based on space information (Paragraph 0059 – “the metaverse space creation unit (102) may obtain spatial information about a space that a first user (e.g., host; BJ) wishes to configure, and create a metaverse space based on the obtained spatial information. For example, the metaverse space creation unit (102) can obtain real space information of the first user and create a metaverse space based on the obtained real space information”; Note: a virtual space is generated based on spatial information. The metaverse space creation is equivalent to the virtual space generation operation) and placement information (Paragraph 0044 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can place virtual facilities within the metaverse space based on the avatar's path. For example, the metaverse space creation unit (102) can track the paths of avatars, and if the paths of the tracked avatars form a certain pattern, a virtual road can be created and placed according to the formed pattern”; Note: The virtual space can be generated using path information, which is type of placement information) of things collected from the target space and a captured image of the target space (Paragraph 0060 – “The metaverse space creation unit (102) can obtain multidirectional image data to create the user's real space as a metaverse space (e.g., BJ room). Multidirectional image data may refer to video and/or panoramic images captured by a single camera”; Note: there is a captured image of the target space used to generate the metaverse space).
Regarding claim 11, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, and Park teach the metaverse system of claim 9. Lee further teaches wherein the virtual space generation operation collects external environment information and generates the virtual space reflecting the external environment information (Paragraph 0059 – “the metaverse space creation unit (102) may obtain spatial information about a space that a first user (e.g., host; BJ) wishes to configure, and create a metaverse space based on the obtained spatial information. For example, the metaverse space creation unit (102) can obtain real space information of the first user and create a metaverse space based on the obtained real space information”; Note: real space information, which is equivalent to the external environment information, is collected by the metaverse space creation unit, which is equivalent to the virtual space generation operation, and a metaverse space is generated to reflect the information).
Regarding claim 13, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, and Park teach the metaverse system of claim 9. Lee further teaches wherein the virtual space is divided into multiple areas (Paragraph 0073 – “The movement area determination unit (105) can divide the ground surface of the metaverse space into a plurality of cells”). Lee does not teach wherein the object information collection operation collects object number information from each area of the target space corresponding to the virtual space, and the second virtual object placement operation places the objects in the areas of the virtual space based on the collected area-specific object number information. However, Etwaru teaches collecting object number information from each area of the target space corresponding to the virtual space (Paragraph 0173, 0175 – “a virtual environment can include more than 4 layers or less than 4 layers…FIG. 7C shows schematic views 808, 810 of the office example above, divided into two layers: a layer A and a layer B, wherein the office additionally includes a second apple (a third object) and a second book (a fourth object) disposed proximal and aligned in the z-direction with the first apple (the first object) on the desk and the first book (the second object) on the coffee table, respectively, before any shifting of the user. Notably, because there are only two layers, both of the apples are disposed in layer A and both of the books are disposed in layer B”; Note: the virtual space is divided into multiple layers, or areas, and each area has a designated number of objects corresponding to the number of objects in the target space), and placing the objects in the areas of the virtual space based on the collected area-specific object number information (Paragraph 0175 – “FIG. 7C shows schematic views 808, 810 of the office example above, divided into two layers: a layer A and a layer B, wherein the office additionally includes a second apple (a third object) and a second book (a fourth object) disposed proximal and aligned in the z-direction with the first apple (the first object) on the desk and the first book (the second object) on the coffee table, respectively, before any shifting of the user. Notably, because there are only two layers, both of the apples are disposed in layer A and both of the books are disposed in layer B”; Note: it is inherent that the objects are placed into the layers of the virtual environment based on the number of objects in the corresponding area in the target space). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Etwaru to place virtual objects based on the number of objects in each area of a target space, so that “the layers can be manipulated to mimic real world physics” (Etwaru: Paragraph 0055-0056). Since Lee already has divided areas within the virtual space, placing objects by a specific object amount would help in organizing the virtual space and better representing the real-world space.
Regarding claim 14, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, and Park teach the metaverse system of claim 9. Lee does not teach wherein the at least one processor of the metaverse terminal is further configured to perform a second avatar control operation to place a user avatar having attributes set by a user in the virtual space, nor the second rendering operation renders the metaverse content from the user avatar's point of view. However, Park teaches an avatar control operation to place a user avatar in the virtual space (Col. 7 lines 50-54 – “the motion state determination unit 140 provides the data to the metaverse space provision unit 150, and causes the metaverse space control unit 150 to control the motion of the avatar representative of the user in the metaverse space in conjunction with the motion of the user.”; Note: the motion state determination is equivalent to the avatar control operation. It is inherent that the motion state determination unit places the avatar in the virtual space because it also moves the avatar in the virtual space). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Park to have an avatar control operation in the terminal for the benefit of properly representing the user in the virtual space. Additionally, it would be easier for the terminal to track the user’s location and motion in order to place the user’s avatar in the virtual space (Park: Col. 6 lines 5-17). Lee modified by Park still does not teach an avatar control operation to place a user avatar having attributes set by a user in the virtual space, nor the second rendering operation renders the metaverse content from the user avatar's point of view. However, Etwaru teaches having attributes, which are set by a user who accesses the metaverse server (Paragraph 0180 – “user parameters can be determined using approximate known dimensions or ratios for features of a user, including facial features…The approximate distance between a person's eyes can be a known value. Such a distance can be, for example, input by the user as part of a user profile, measured using a standardized measurement or reference measurement, or be a standardized value representing a mean eye-to-eye distance. Such a standardized value can be generalized for a suitable demographic, such as age, sex, ethnicity, or the like”; Note: user parameters, which is equivalent to the user attributes, can be set by the user in a user profile), and the second rendering operation renders the metaverse content from the user avatar's point of view (Paragraph 0193 – “the device 701 can adjust the position and rendering of the new digital object—the 3D model of the vehicle—to be accurate relative to the new user's perspective”; Note: metaverse content, which is the 3D model of the vehicle in this case, is rendered from the user’s perspective). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Etwaru to allow the user to set their avatar attributes because it is a common feature in the art to provide avatar customizability, as it enhances the user experience. It also would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Etwaru to render the metaverse content from the user avatar’s point of view for the benefit of making the virtual environment appear more realistic to the user experience.
Regarding claim 15, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, and Park teach the metaverse system of claim 14. Lee further teaches motion control commands for the user avatar received via a user interface (UI) (Paragraph 0033 – “the user's input of pressing the arrow keys or preset keys of the keyboard included in the user terminal (200)”; Note: a motion control command, which is in the form of pressing keys, is received from a user interface, which is in the form of a keyboard that is part of the metaverse terminal). Lee does not teach wherein the second avatar control operation generates object motion data for controlling motions of the user avatar placed in the virtual space in response to motion control commands received via a user interface (UI). However, Park teaches wherein the second avatar control operation generates object motion data for controlling motions of the user avatar placed in the virtual space (Col. 7 lines 25-43, 50-54 – “The motion state determination unit 140 determines the motion state of the user…and generates state information data regarding the determined motion state of the user...the motion state determination unit 140 provides the data to the metaverse space provision unit 150, and causes the metaverse space control unit 150 to control the motion of the avatar representative of the user in the metaverse space in conjunction with the motion of the user”; Note: the motion state determination is equivalent to the avatar control operation. It generates action information data, which is the motion data, to control the motion of the avatar). Since the system of Lee generates motion control commands, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Park to have the avatar control operation generate motion data according to a generated motion control command, so that the avatar’s movement can correspond to the user’s movement, which is a common concept in metaverse and virtual reality systems.
Regarding claim 16, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, and Park teach the metaverse system of claim 14. Lee further teaches wherein the metaverse terminal comprises a sensor configured to detect the user's motion and generate a motion control command for the user avatar (Paragraph 0041, 0046 – “The information acquisition unit (101) can acquire information on the user's movements acquired by a motion sensor mounted on the user terminal (200). Information about the above movement may include static motion and dynamic motion…The avatar control unit (104) can control the movement of the avatar to correspond to the movement of the user based on information about the user's movement acquired through the information acquisition unit (101)”; Note: the user terminal has a sensor mounted on it that detects motion and generates motion information. The motion information is treated as a command to signal the avatar control unit to move the avatar). Lee does not teach wherein the second avatar control operation generates object motion data for controlling a motion of the user avatar placed in the virtual space according to the generated motion control command for the user avatar. However, Park teaches wherein the second avatar control operation generates object motion data for controlling a motion of the user avatar placed in the virtual space according to the generated motion control command for the user avatar (Col. 7 lines 25-43, 50-54 – “The motion state determination unit 140 determines the motion state of the user based on the sensing data received from the sensing data analysis unit 130, and generates state information data regarding the determined motion state of the user...if the sensing data collected and transferred by the sensing data collection unit 120 corresponds to sensing data regarding the action (for example, standing up, or waving his or her hand) of the user, the motion state determination unit 140 generates action information data used to determine the motion of the action of the avatar representative of the user in the metaverse space as user state information data… the motion state determination unit 140 provides the data to the metaverse space provision unit 150, and causes the metaverse space control unit 150 to control the motion of the avatar representative of the user in the metaverse space in conjunction with the motion of the user”; Note: the motion state determination is equivalent to the avatar control operation. It generates action information data, which is the motion data, to control the motion of the avatar based on the sensing data. The motion control command is inherent through the sensing data since it signals to the motion state determination unit to control the motion of the avatar). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Park to have the avatar control operation generate motion data according to a generated motion control command, so that the avatar’s movement can correspond to the user’s movement, which is a common concept in metaverse and virtual reality systems.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, Park, and Kim.
Regarding claim 12, Lee in view of Onrust, Dittrich, Etwaru, and Park teach the metaverse system of claim 9. Lee does not teach wherein the object information collection operation additionally collects object information and object attribute information from access information of a wireless communication connection device in the target space. However, Kim teaches collecting object information and object attribute information from access information of a wireless communication connection device (Paragraph 0039, 0044 – “the new wireless communication device is a device that allows connection, and the connection message may include IP (Internet Protocol), MAC (Media Access Control), SSID (Service Set Identifier), and BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier) information… the agent (110) can collect wireless communication access point (AP) information recognized by the client PC (130) and provide it to the server (120)”; Note: the server collects object information, including MAC address and IP address, from a wireless communication connection device). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Kim to collect object and attribute information from access information of a wireless communication device for the benefit of making it easier to know what devices are within a target space (Kim: Paragraph 0005-0006). It also may help with keeping track of how many users are in the target space.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Shin et al. (KR 102364275 B1) teaches a method of providing user, object, and real environment data to a server that generates corresponding virtual components for a virtual environment reflecting the real environment.
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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/MICHELLE HAU MA/Examiner, Art Unit 2617 /KING Y POON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2617