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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the pending claims have been considered but are moot because of the new ground of rejection below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5-7, 9, 12, 13, 17, 20-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by HOLZ (US 2020/0294311 A1).
1. HOLZ discloses an information processing apparatus for automatically determining an allowed region where a user wearing a head-mounted display (HMD) can move safely, the information processing apparatus comprising: circuitry configured to (Figs. 6-7, 11, 13-14), [0054], [0085]
classify multiple planes in a three-dimensional space into at least a base plane corresponding to a surface for movement and an obstacle plane corresponding to at least one obstacle and identify a base region pertaining to the base plane and an obstacle region pertaining to each obstacle plane based on a classification result of the multiple planes (classifies and identify a flat planar ground as the base plane and classifies and identify any physical object taller than the ground (or having a height difference) as an obstacle plane), [0054], [0056], [0066], [0090],
identify a hollow region representing spatial discontinuity where the base plane is not present based on the identified base region and occupancy information of the three-dimensional space (determines that any other location (e.g., not classified as a navigable area or physical object) is unknown. These unknown areas are treated as spatial discontinuities/hollow regions where the base (floor) plane is absent or unconfirmed. The system uses occupancy-like height and depth-map information derived from the base-region classification), [0054], [0056], [0066], [0091]–[0092], and
calculate the allowed region for the user by performing a logical operation that integrates the identified base region, each identified obstacle region, and the identified hollow region (performs an iterative flood fill starting at the user’s location on the global height-gradient map. The flood fill only propagates through areas where color and height gradients are below a defined threshold (i.e., integrates the base/navigable region), excludes obstacle regions (wall map), and treats any area the flood fill cannot reach (hollow/unknown regions) as non-allowed by marking them in the wall map or preventing further propagation. This logical operation directly produces the final allowed/walkable region), [0085], [0090]-[0094], (Fig. 12).
2. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry calculates an angle between a normal line to each of the multiple planes and a direction of gravity, selects from the multiple planes one or more planes considered to be horizontal planes, based on the angles, and selects the base plane from the planes considered to be horizontal (via flat-planar-ground assumption and height-gradient processing relative to gravity), [0054], [0092].
5. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to control output of an image indicating the allowed region (roam area rendering component 760 renders a virtual navigable area/pathway/floor that corresponds exactly to the path map/walkable region determined by the roam area defining component 750; the rendered virtual pathway is displayed stereoscopically to the user via the HMD as the allowed/safe movement region), [0056]-[0058], (Fig. 7, 11).
6. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to control output of at least one of an image or a sound giving a warning in a case in which a distance between the user and a boundary of the allowed region is equal to or less than a predetermined value (runtime sub-system 1130 applies gradual visual corrections/redirection and renders virtual obstructions/doors/walls when the user approaches the boundary of the path map/walkable region; virtual pedestrians are spawned or repositioned with “personal space” thresholds to warn of proximity to wall-map boundaries or unknown areas), [0112], (Figs. 11, 13–14).
7. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to control output of an instruction as to a movement of the user, and adjust the instruction to keep the movement of the user within the allowed region (runtime sub-system 1130 generates graphical indicators/arrows overlaid on the virtual environment and uses virtual pedestrians/walls to guide/redirect the user along the path map; redirection and obstacle placement are dynamically adjusted in real time based on user position to keep the user inside the walkable region), [0118], (Figs. 11, 13–14).
9. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to generate space information from distance measurement information indicative of a distance from a surrounding object acquired by a distance measuring device attached to the user (environment sensing component 730 receives depth data from environmental sensors 620b attached to the HMD/user; depth images are projected into point clouds and used to generate the height map, color map, and height-gradient map that define the 3D space information), [0053]-[0058].
12. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine an unknown region based on the occupancy information indicated in an occupancy grid map, wherein the occupancy grid map represents the three-dimensional space by using multiple three-dimensional unit cells, wherein at least one of the multiple unit cells possesses unknown information indicating that it is unknown whether or not the unit cell is occupied by an object, wherein the circuitry determines the unknown region based on a position of the three-dimensional unit cell possessing the unknown information, and wherein the circuitry prevents the unknown region from being included in the allowed region (VR roam tracking device maintains a dynamic 2D map/grid (10 cm × 10 cm pixels) derived from height/gradient data; any other location (e.g., not classified as a navigable area or physical object) is unknown and is marked in the wall map; flood-fill never propagates into unknown pixels, so they are excluded from the path map/allowed region), [0091]-[0094].
13. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the circuitry includes into the unknown region a location in which at least a predetermined number of the three-dimensional unit cells possessing the unknown information are stacked in a vertical direction (height-gradient map computes maximum height differences across pixels and adjacent areas; vertical stacking/gaps in the height map that exceed the gradient threshold are treated as non-navigable/unknown and marked in the wall map, preventing inclusion in the allowed region), [0091]-[0094].
17. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to calculate as a surrounding region a region that constitutes a portion of the base region and includes a position of the user, based on at least the position of the user, and wherein the circuitry calculates the allowed region further based on the surrounding region (runtime sub-system 1130 restricts processing and flood-fill propagation to a radius around the current user position; the path map (allowed region) is iteratively updated starting from the user’s location within the navigable/base area), [0091]-[0094], [0112].
20. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the circuitry adjusts at least one of a shape or a size of the surrounding region according to a posture of the user (HMD tracking component and runtime sub-system 1130 continuously update the user’s position/orientation via rigid transform T that accounts for head posture, movement, and perceptual changes; the surrounding radius and virtual rendering (including allowed-region boundaries) are dynamically resized or reshaped based on user posture and distance), [0027], [0038], [0045], [0053], [0098], [0116].
23. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to obtain a position of the user in the three-dimensional space, and specify a region occupied by the user as a peripheral region (location tracking component 920 and runtime sub-system 1130 compute the user’s accurate real-world position wherein the immediate area around the user (peripheral/surrounding region) is defined and used for path-map updates and obstacle placement), [0098].
24. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the allowed region is calculated by performing the logical operation using the peripheral region (flood fill for the path map/allowed region explicitly starts at the user’s peripheral position and propagates outward from that region using the gradient-threshold logic), [0091]-[0094].
25. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the peripheral region is determined as a part of the base region (user position is always located within the navigable/base/path-map area; the peripheral region is treated as a subset of the base region for all subsequent flood fill and rendering operations), [0091]-[0094].
32. HOLZ discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each identified obstacle region is identified according to a difference in height between each identified obstacle region and the base region being greater than a predetermined value with respect to a height axis, [0056], [0058], [0066].
21, 26-28. HOLZ discloses an information processing method for automatically determining an allowed region where a user wearing a head-mounted display (HMD) can move safely, the method comprising: classifying multiple planes in a three-dimensional space into at least a base plane corresponding to a surface for movement and an obstacle plane corresponding to at least one obstacle; identifying a base region pertaining to the base plane and an obstacle region pertaining to each obstacle plane based on a classification result of the multiple planes; identifying a hollow region representing spatial discontinuity where the base plane is not present, based on the identified base region and occupancy information of the three-dimensional space; and calculating the allowed region for the user by performing a logical operation that integrates the identified base region, each identified obstacle region, and the identified hollow region as similarly discussed above.
22, 29-31. HOLZ discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, which when executed by a computer causes the computer to execute a method, the method comprising: classifying multiple planes in a three-dimensional space into at least a base plane corresponding to a surface for movement and an obstacle plane corresponding to at least one obstacle; identifying a base region pertaining to the base plane and an obstacle region pertaining to each obstacle plane based on a classification result of the multiple planes; identifying a hollow region representing spatial discontinuity where the base plane is not present, based on the identified base region and occupancy information of the three-dimensional space; and calculating the allowed region for the user by performing a logical operation that integrates the identified base region, each identified obstacle region, and the identified hollow region as similarly discussed above.
Filing of New or Amended Claims
The examiner has the initial burden of presenting evidence or reasoning to explain why persons skilled in the art would not recognize in the original disclosure a description of the invention defined by the claims. See Wertheim, 541 F.2d at 263, 191 USPQ at 97 (“[T]he PTO has the initial burden of presenting evidence or reasons why persons skilled in the art would not recognize in the disclosure a description of the invention defined by the claims.”). However, when filing an amendment an applicant should show support in the original disclosure for new or amended claims. See MPEP § 714.02 and § 2163.06 (“Applicant should specifically point out the support for any amendments made to the disclosure.”). Please see MPEP 2163 (II) 3. (b)
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SENG H LIM whose telephone number is (571)270-3301. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (9-5).
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/Seng H Lim/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715