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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/23/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Received 03/23/2026
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are pending.
Claim(s) 1, 3, and 6-8 has/have been amended.
The 35 U.S.C § 103 rejection to claim(s) 1-8 have been fully considered in view of the amendments received on 03/23/2026 and are fully addressed in the prior art rejection below.
Response to Arguments
Received 03/23/2026
Regarding independent claim(s) 1, 7, and 8:
Applicant’s arguments (Remarks, Page 11: ¶ 2 to Page 12: ¶ 1), filed 03/23/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 7, and 8 under 35 U.S.C § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn, necessitated by Applicant's amendments. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Tanaka et al. (US PGPUB No. 20190253743 A1), in view of Jiao et al. (US Patent No. 10855965 B1), in view of Hakoshima et al. ( US Patent No. 10123695 B2), and further in view of Mizuno et al. (US PGPUB No. 20200380554 A1).
Applicant’s arguments (Remarks, Page 11: ¶ 3 to Page 12: ¶ 1), filed 03/23/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 7 and 8 under 35 U.S.C § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive due claim 7's and claim 8's similarity to claim 1. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn, necessitated by Applicant's amendments. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the prior art as mentioned above.
Regarding dependent claim(s) 2-6:
Applicant’s arguments (Remarks, Page 11: ¶ 3 to Page 12: ¶ 1), filed 03/23/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 2-6 under 35 U.S.C § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive due the dependency upon claims 1, 7, and 9 respectively. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn, necessitated by Applicant's amendments. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the prior art as mentioned above.
Applicant’s arguments (Remarks, Page 12: ¶ 3 to Page 12: ¶ 12), filed 03/23/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 5 under 35 U.S.C § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn, necessitated by Applicant's amendments. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Tanaka et al., in view of Jiao et al., in view of Hakoshima et al., in view of Mizuno et al., and further in view Noh et at. (US PGPUB No. 20120007855 A1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka et al., US PGPUB No. 20190253743 A1, hereinafter Tanaka, in view of Jiao et al., US Patent No. 10855965 B1, hereinafter Jiao, in view of Hakoshima et al., US Patent No. 10123695 B2, hereinafter Hakoshima, and further in view of Mizuno et al., US PGPUB No. 20200380554 A1, hereinafter Mizuno
Regarding claim 1, Tanaka discloses an information processing apparatus (Tanaka; an information processing apparatus [¶ 0125-0127 and ¶ 0137-0139], as illustrated within Fig. 1; moreover, hardware configuration [¶ 0766], as illustrated within Fig. 36) comprising:
circuitry (Tanaka; information processing apparatus [as addressed above] comprises circuitry [¶ 0767-0768]) configured to
generate a plurality of viewpoint images to be displayed as a stereoscopic image (Tanaka; the circuitry [as addressed above] configured to generate a plurality of viewpoint images to be displayed as a stereoscopic image (using a viewing device / HMD) [¶ 0126-0128 and ¶ 0136-0138], as illustrated within Fig. 1; moreover, rendering multi view imagery [¶ 0153-0158], as illustrated within Fig. 2), detect an eye-attracting area of a virtual space to which a visual attention of a user needs to be attracted (Tanaka; the circuitry [as addressed above] configured to detect an eye-attracting area of a virtual space [¶ 0122-0124] to which a visual attention of a user implicitly needs to be attracted (given viewing status information and intersection point within a viewing frustum) [¶ 0040-0042, ¶ 0184-0186, and ¶ 0195-0199]; moreover, sight line tracking [¶ 0757 and ¶ 0763]; wherein, a heat map illustrates a distribution status of gaze points [¶ 0167, ¶ 0200, and ¶ 0204-0206], and wherein a heat map is in relation with 3D spaces [¶ 0215-0216]; additionally, attention degree (associated with an advertisement ranking) [¶ 0556-0559]), generate a control map indicating a distribution of a degree of eye-attractiveness in each viewpoint image based on a distance from the eye-attracting area (Tanaka; the circuitry [as addressed above] configured to generate a control map (i.e. heat map) indicating a distribution of a degree of eye-attractiveness in each viewpoint image based on an implicit distance from the eye-attracting area (given the viewing frustum/FOV) [¶ 0112-0113, ¶ 0115, and ¶ 0117]; moreover, FOV [¶ 0184-0187]; and moreover, generating a heat map with which statistics information on a content viewing region and a user viewpoint position [¶ 0124, ¶ 0199-0200, ¶ 0205, and ¶ 0216]), adjust the degree of eye-attractiveness of each viewpoint image based on the control map (Tanaka; the circuitry [as addressed above] configured to adjust the degree of eye-attractiveness of each viewpoint image based on the control map (i.e. heat map) [¶ 0646, ¶ 0648-0650, and ¶ 0652]; moreover, enable content and advertisement distribution control by using the heat map [¶ 0040-0042]; moreover, viewing probability [¶ 0655-0656], and bit rate [¶ 0658-0659]), and control to display the stereoscopic image in the virtual space using each of the plurality of viewpoint images (Tanaka; the circuitry [as addressed above] configured to control to display the stereoscopic image in the virtual space [¶ 0126 and ¶ 0136] using each of the plurality of viewpoint images [¶ 0153-0158]),
wherein the circuitry detects the eye-attracting area based on information on a three-dimensional space included in content data (Tanaka; the circuitry detects the eye-attracting area based on information on a 3D space (containing an object) included in content data [¶ 0197-0199]; moreover, gaze point info of a display object [¶ 0200-0203, and ¶ 0216] and heat map as 3D data [¶ 0212-0215]).
Tanaka fails to explicitly disclose a degree of eye-attractiveness in each viewpoint image based on a distance from the eye-attracting area,
adjust the degree of eye-attractiveness of each viewpoint image based on the control map, and
using each of the plurality of viewpoint images whose degrees of attractiveness have been adjusted,
a position of the eye attracting area designated with respect to a three-dimensional model in content data used to generate each of the plurality of viewpoint images.
However, Jiao teaches to:
detect an eye-attracting area of a virtual space to which a visual attention of a user (Jiao; detecting an eye-attracting area of a virtual space to which a visual attention of a user [Col. 10, lines 57-65]), generate a control map indicating a distribution of a degree of eye-attractiveness in each viewpoint image based on a distance from the eye-attracting area (Jiao; generating a control map (i.e. depth map) indicating a distribution of a degree of eye-attractiveness (corresponding to a focus disparity) in each viewpoint image based on a distance from the eye-attracting area (corresponding to a focus position that is associated with a foreground) [Col. 4, lines 17-40], as illustrated within Figs. 4-5; wherein, disparity is associated with location/position [Col. 3, line 56 to Col. 4, line 16], as illustrated within Fig. 3; and wherein, the highest disparity is focally closest to the viewer [Col. 4, line 41 to Col. 5, line 17], as illustrated within Fig. 6; additionally, a partition map from a depth map [Col. 6, line 56 to Col. 7, line 24] and a partition map from a saliency map [Col. 12, line 54 to Col. 13, line 14]), adjust the degree of eye-attractiveness of each viewpoint image based on the control map (Jiao; adjusting the degree of eye-attractiveness (corresponding to the focus disparity) of the viewpoint image based on the control map (i.e. depth map) [Col. 5, lines 32-56]), and control to display the stereoscopic image in the virtual space using each of the plurality of viewpoint images whose degrees of attractiveness have been adjusted (Jiao; controlling to display the stereoscopic image in the virtual space using each of the plurality of viewpoint images whose degrees of attractiveness (corresponding to the focus disparity) have been adjusted [Col. 6, lines 8-50 and Col. 8, lines 16-41 and Col. 8, lines 52-57]),
wherein the circuitry detects the eye-attracting area based on information on a three-dimensional model included in content data used to generate each of the plurality of viewpoint images (Jiao; the circuitry (i.e. image generator) detects the eye-attracting area based on information on a 3D model included in content data used to generate each of the plurality of viewpoint images [Col. 10, lines 34-38, Col. 10, lines 57-65, Col. 11, lines 19-47, and Col. 12, lines 1-15]; moreover, as illustrated within Fig. 14, eye tracking generates an eye position map that is utilized by the multi-view generator which further influences the generation of 3D image [Id. as addressed above]; wherein, the generated plurality of viewpoint images [Col. 3, lines 56-65 and Col. 4, lines 17-26] are based on depth map data and the locations of the viewers’ eyes [Col. 4, lines 27-40]; additionally, high and low disparity regions are an aspect of generating multi-view images [Col. 4, lines 41-60 and Col. 5, lines 8-17]).
Tanaka and Jiao are considered to be analogous art because both pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visualization effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Tanaka, to incorporate to: detect an eye-attracting area of a virtual space to which a visual attention of a user, generate a control map indicating a distribution of a degree of eye-attractiveness in each viewpoint image based on a distance from the eye-attracting area, adjust the degree of eye-attractiveness of each viewpoint image based on the control map, and control to display the stereoscopic image in the virtual space using each of the plurality of viewpoint images whose degrees of attractiveness have been adjusted, wherein the circuitry detects the eye-attracting area based on information on a three-dimensional model included in content data (as taught by Jiao), in order to provide an improved immersive experience that allow visualizations/imaging to be dynamic in relation to user movements and/or viewing perspectives (Jiao; [Col. 1, lines 15-41 and Col. 2, lines 20-35]).
Tanaka as modified by Jiao fails to explicitly disclose a visual attention of a user needs to be attracted; and
a position of the eye attracting area designated with respect to a model.
However, Hakoshima teaches an eye-attracting area detection unit that detects an eye-attracting area of a virtual space to which a visual attention of a user needs to be attracted (Hakoshima; an eye-attracting area detection unit that detects an eye-attracting area of a virtual space [Col. 5, lines 1-45] to which a visual attention of a user needs to be attracted [Col. 14, lines 53-67]; additionally, eye gaze detector of eye direction of a subject [Col. 15, lines 22-34]).
Tanaka in view of Jiao and Hakoshima are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visualization effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Tanaka as modified by Jiao, to incorporate an eye-attracting area detection unit that detects an eye-attracting area of a virtual space to which a visual attention of a user needs to be attracted (as taught by Hakoshima), in order to provide efficient eye gazing assessments while reducing resource consumption (Hakoshima; [Col. 3, line 22-36]).
Tanaka as modified by Jiao and Hakoshima fails to discloses a position of the eye attracting area designated with respect to a model.
However, Mizuno teaches detecting an eye-attracting area of a virtual space to which a visual attention of a user needs to be attracted (Mizuno; detecting an eye-attracting area of a virtual space to which a visual attention of a user needs to be attracted [¶ 0042-0044]; moreover, an object the viewer pays attention to is detected while the 3D spatial image including the plurality of objects and vicinity is based on a calculated detection result [¶ 0045-0046]); and
detecting the eye-attraction area based on information on a position of the eye attracting area designated with respect to a three-dimensional model included in content data used to generate each of the plurality of viewpoint images (Mizunoi; detecting the eye-attraction area based on information on a position of the eye attracting area [¶ 0028-0030] designated with respect to a 3D model included in content data used to generate each of the plurality of viewpoint images [¶ 0023-0025]; moreover, an object drawn in a predetermined region that is set in a central portion of a playback range may be detected as the attention object [¶ 0031]; additionally, predetermined region is detected as the attention object [¶ 0032-0033], such that attention is detected for each frame [¶ 0037], in relation with time [¶ 0038], and/or in relation with one or more viewers [¶ 0039-0040]; moreover, attention degree calculation [¶ 0041-0042] and/or vicinity of an object [¶ 0043 and ¶ 0045-0046]).
Tanaka in view of Jiao and Hakoshima and Mizunoi are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visualization effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Tanaka as modified by Jiao and Hakoshima, to incorporate detecting an eye-attracting area of a virtual space to which a visual attention of a user needs to be attracted; and detecting the eye-attraction area based on information on a position of the eye attracting area designated with respect to a three-dimensional model included in content data used to generate each of the plurality of viewpoint images (as taught by Mizunoi), in order to provide efficient information to a user based on degrees of attention (Mizunoi; [¶ 0007-0010]).
Regarding claim 2, Tanaka in view of Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi further discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control map defines such a distribution of the degree of eye-attractiveness in which the degree of eye-attractiveness becomes lower as the distance from the eye-attracting area is more distant (Jiao; the control map (i.e. depth map) defines such a distribution of the degree of eye-attractiveness (i.e. focus disparity) in which the degree of eye-attractiveness (i.e. focus disparity) becomes lower as the distance from the eye-attracting area is more distant [Col. 4, line 17 to Col. 5, line 17], as illustrated within Figs. 4-6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Tanaka as modified by Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi, to incorporate the control map defines such a distribution of the degree of eye-attractiveness in which the degree of eye-attractiveness becomes lower as the distance from the eye-attracting area is more distant (as taught by Jiao), in order to provide an improved immersive experience that allow visualizations/imaging to be dynamic in relation to user movements and/or viewing perspectives (Jiao; [Col. 1, lines 15-41 and Col. 2, lines 20-35]).
Regarding claim 3, Tanaka in view of Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi further discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, the circuitry (Tanaka; the circuitry [as addressed within the parent claim(s)]).
Jiao further teaches generate a distance map of each viewpoint image based on three-dimensional coordinate information of the stereoscopic image (Jiao; generating a distance map of each viewpoint image based on 3D coordinate information of the stereoscopic image [Col. 4, lines 17-40], as illustrated within Figs. 4-5), determine a spatial distribution of a degree of eye-attractiveness of the virtual space using a position of the eye-attracting area as a reference (Jiao; determining a spatial distribution of a degree of eye-attractiveness (i.e. focus disparity) of the virtual space using a position of the eye-attracting area as a reference [Col. 4, lines 17-55], as illustrated within Figs. 4-6), and generate the control map based on the distance map and the spatial distribution of the degree of eye-attractiveness (Jiao; generating the control map (i.e. depth map) based on the distance map and the spatial distribution of the degree of eye-attractiveness (i.e. focus disparity) [Col. 4, lines 17-55], as illustrated within Figs. 4-6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Tanaka as modified by Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi, to incorporate generate a distance map of each viewpoint image based on three-dimensional coordinate information of the stereoscopic image, determine a spatial distribution of a degree of eye-attractiveness of the virtual space using a position of the eye-attracting area as a reference, and generate the control map based on the distance map and the spatial distribution of the degree of eye-attractiveness (as taught by Jiao), in order to provide an improved immersive experience that allow visualizations/imaging to be dynamic in relation to user movements and/or viewing perspectives (Jiao; [Col. 1, lines 15-41 and Col. 2, lines 20-35]).
Regarding claim 4, Tanaka in view of Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi further discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, the circuitry (Tanaka; the circuitry [as addressed within the parent claim(s)]).
Jiao further teaches adjusts the degree of eye-attractiveness of each viewpoint image by adjusting at least one of frequency characteristics, brightness, saturation, contrast, transparency, or hue of each viewpoint image per pixel (Jiao; adjusting the degree of eye-attractiveness (i.e. focus disparity) of the viewpoint image by adjusting frequency characteristics, brightness, saturation, a contrast, transparency, or a hue of the viewpoint image per pixel [Col. 4, lines 27-40 and Col. 5, lines 4-17]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Tanaka as modified by Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi, to incorporate adjusts the degree of eye-attractiveness of each viewpoint image by adjusting at least one of frequency characteristics, brightness, saturation, contrast, transparency, or hue of each viewpoint image per pixel (as taught by Jiao), in order to provide an improved immersive experience that allow visualizations/imaging to be dynamic in relation to user movements and/or viewing perspectives (Jiao; [Col. 1, lines 15-41 and Col. 2, lines 20-35]).
Regarding claim 6, Tanaka in view of Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi further discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, the circuitry (Tanaka; the circuitry [as addressed within the parent claim(s)]).
Jiao further teaches detects the eye-attracting area further based on at least one of user input information or a gazing position of the user, or an eye-attracting position extracted from content data (Jiao; detects the eye-attracting area based on user input information or a gazing position of the user [¶ 0196-0198]; additionally, sight line tracking [¶ 0756-0757]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Tanaka as modified by Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi, to incorporate detects the eye-attracting area further based on at least one of user input information or a gazing position of the user (as taught by Jiao), in order to provide an improved immersive experience that allow visualizations/imaging to be dynamic in relation to user movements and/or viewing perspectives (Jiao; [Col. 1, lines 15-41 and Col. 2, lines 20-35]).
Regarding claim 7, the rejection of claim 7 is addressed within the rejection of claim 1, due to the similarities claim 7 and claim 1 share, therefore refer to the rejection of claim 1 regarding the rejection of claim 7.
Regarding claim 8, the rejection of claim 8 is addressed within the rejection of claim 1, due to the similarities claim 8 and claim 1 share, therefore refer to the rejection of claim 1 regarding the rejection of claim 8; however, the subject matter/limitations not addressed by claim 1 is/are addressed below.
Tanaka further discloses a program causing a computer to execute (Tanaka; a program causing a computer to execute [¶ 0001 and ¶ 0038]; moreover, computer programs [¶ 0767, ¶ 0769, and ¶ 0820]).
(further refer to the rejection of claim 1)
Regarding claim 9, Tanaka in view of Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi further discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position of the eye-attracting area is designated with respect to the three-dimensional model by a creator of the content data (Mizunoi; the position of the eye-attracting area is designated/predetermined with respect to the 3D model by a creator of the content data [¶ 0032-0035]).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka in view of Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi as applied to claim(s) 1 above, and further in view of Noh et al., US PGPUB No. 20120007855 A1, hereinafter Noh.
Regarding claim 5, Tanaka in view of Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi further discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, the circuitry (Tanaka; the circuitry [as addressed within the parent claim(s)]).
Jiao further teaches extract a plurality of virtual objects from content data (Jiao; extracting a plurality of virtual objects from content data [Col. 4, lines 17-26], as illustrated within Fig. 4), and adjust a degree of eye-attractiveness of each of the virtual objects based on an alpha value corresponding to a distance between the virtual object and the eye-attracting area per virtual object (Jiao; adjusting a degree of eye-attractiveness of each of the virtual objects based on an implicit alpha (given lightness-darkness) value corresponding to a distance between the virtual object and the eye-attracting area per virtual object [Col. 4, line 27 to Col. 5, line 3], as illustrated within Figs. 4-5).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Tanaka as modified by Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi, to incorporate extract a plurality of virtual objects from content data, and adjust a degree of eye-attractiveness of each of the virtual objects based on an alpha value corresponding to a distance between the virtual object and the eye-attracting area per virtual object (as taught by Jiao), in order to provide an improved immersive experience that allow visualizations/imaging to be dynamic in relation to user movements and/or viewing perspectives (Jiao; [Col. 1, lines 15-41 and Col. 2, lines 20-35]).
Tanaka as modified by Jiao, Hakoshima and Mizunoi fails to explicitly disclose the virtual objects based on an alpha value corresponding to a distance between the virtual object and the eye-attracting area per virtual object.
However, Noh teaches the virtual objects based on an alpha value corresponding to a distance between the virtual object and the eye-attracting area per virtual object (Noh; the virtual objects based on an alpha value [¶ 0035-0038] corresponding to a distance between the virtual object and the eye-attracting area per virtual object [¶ 0047-0050]; moreover, parallax in relation with a stereoscopic effect [¶ 0045 and ¶ 0051]).
Tanaka in view of Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi and Noh are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visualization effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Tanaka as modified by Jiao, Hakoshima, and Mizunoi, to incorporate the virtual objects based on an alpha value corresponding to a distance between the virtual object and the eye-attracting area per virtual object (as taught by Noh), in order to provide three-dimensional imaging from two-dimensional data (Noh; [Abstract and ¶ 0005-0006]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to PTO-892, Notice of Reference Cited for a listing of analogous art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Charles Lloyd Beard whose telephone number is (571)272-5735. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5: 00 PM, alternate Fridays EST.
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CHARLES LLOYD. BEARD
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2611
/CHARLES L BEARD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2611