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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 11618170, in view of EP 4147830
A system comprising:
Gewecke teaches a system for controlling a social robot, stating:
"The system includes various modules and data structures that may be incorporated in hardware, software, firmware, or in some combination of the foregoing. The hardware, software, firmware, or combination may be implemented locally in the social robot itself, or in part using computer processing power that is in communication with the social robot using a computer or data communications network."
Further, Gewecke teaches:
"The system 100 is organized into three subsystems: a character and personality profiling subsystem 120, a robotic behavior mapping subsystem 140, and a real-time social robot behavior module 160."
Accordingly, Gewecke teaches the claimed system.
a memory that stores computer executable components; and a processor that executes computer executable components stored in the memory
Gewecke teaches that the disclosed modules are implemented as executable software components, stating:
"The system includes various modules and data structures that may be incorporated in hardware, software, firmware, or in some combination of the foregoing."
Gewecke further teaches:
"The hardware, software, firmware, or combination may be implemented locally in the social robot itself, or in part using computer processing power that is in communication with the social robot using a computer or data communications network."
This teaches executable software stored in memory and executed by one or more processors.
wherein the computer executable components comprise: a visualization component
Gewecke teaches a subsystem responsible for creating physical and visual characteristics for the robot, stating:
"The character and personality profiling subsystem 120 may be used in advance of robot operation, to develop one or more personality profiles and associated distinctive physical character traits, for example, clothing and accessories, appearance, and voice qualities for use during robot operation."
Accordingly, the character and personality profiling subsystem corresponds to the claimed visualization component.
that alters an appearance of a humanoid robot
Gewecke expressly teaches altering the appearance of a robot, stating:
"In addition to behavioral personality analysis, analysis of raw data 184 may include extraction of physical characteristics that can be mimicked by the target population of social robots."
Gewecke further teaches:
"Likewise, the source character's appearance, including but not limited to clothing, accessories, physical form and mannerism may be mimicked by social robots."
And further:
"Social robots using a video display as a body component ... are capable of closely reproducing the appearance of the source character's corresponding body part."
These disclosures teach altering the appearance of a humanoid social robot.
to imitate an appearance of a first human
Gewecke teaches that the source character may be an actual person, stating:
"It should be appreciated that the system 100 may be adapted for use with any character portrayal or performance, including that of a real person who is portraying his or her own natural character."
Gewecke further teaches:
"The character and personality profiling subsystem 120 may be used ... to develop one or more personality profiles and associated distinctive physical character traits..."
Thus, Gewecke teaches imitating the appearance of a first human.
from a perspective of a second human
Gewecke teaches presentation of the robot to an interacting user, including in augmented reality, stating:
"A social robot may be implemented as a virtual machine ... in an augmented reality environment."
However, Gewecke does not expressly disclose adapting the appearance specifically from the perspective of a second human.
EP 4 147 830 A1 teaches this limitation, stating:
"The autonomous device ... may ... adapt its own look or visual appearance towards the person based on the determined visual features, and thus generate a familiar impression with the person even when it operates in the autonomous mode."
EP '830 further teaches:
"Analyzing ... a visual appearance of the operator ... enables the autonomous device ... to transform them into similar visual and voice features of the robot..."
It would have been obvious to modify Gewecke to incorporate EP '830's visual-adaptation techniques because both references seek to improve familiarity and social interaction by causing a robot to visually resemble and behave like a particular person.
and a behavior component
Gewecke teaches a behavior module, stating:
"The robotic behavior mapping subsystem 140 may also be used ... to map personal behaviors and character traits to social robot behaviors... The real-time social robot behavior module 160 operates in real time ... causing the social robot to express one or more of the personalities profiled..."
Thus, Gewecke teaches the claimed behavior component.
that adapts the appearance of the humanoid robot based on a human profile associated with the first human
Gewecke teaches:
"The character and personality profiling subsystem 120 may be used ... to develop one or more personality profiles and associated distinctive physical character traits..."
and
"The social robot ... express[es] one or more of the personalities profiled ... with associated physical character traits..."
EP '830 further teaches adapting appearance from an operator profile:
"The system may comprise a memory configured to store at least one operator style profile..."
and
"The operator style evaluation module analyzes the detected or selected features and uses them to bias the voice and speech features of the robot in autonomous mode."
wherein the human profile comprises information related to social interaction characteristics of interactions between the first human and the second human
Gewecke teaches personality profiles derived from human behavior, stating:
"The decision engine controls social responses of the social robot to environmental stimuli, based in part on the set of personality trait values. The social robot thereby behaves in a manner consistent with the personality profile for the profiled source character."
EP '830 expressly teaches that the profile is relationship-specific:
"The operator style evaluation module is configured to generate operator style aspect data associated with the operator and the at least one person based on the analyzed interaction of the autonomous device."
and
"The autonomous device learns the specific operator style of the operator during the tele-operating mode... [and] incorporates at least some aspects of the operator style into his autonomous behavior..."
Accordingly, the combination of Gewecke and EP '830 teaches or at least renders obvious a human profile containing social interaction characteristics derived from interactions between the first human and the second human.
okay, now pu
Claims, 1, 9 and 15, Gewecke teaches a system comprising a memory that stores computer-executable components and a processor that executes the components stored in memory (col 7, lines 50-57) "The system includes various modules and data structures that may be incorporated in hardware, software, firmware, or in some combination of the foregoing. The hardware, software, firmware, or combination may be implemented locally in the social robot itself, or in part using computer processing power that is in communication with the social robot using a computer or data communications network."
a visualization component that alters an appearance of a humanoid robot to imitate an appearance of a first human (col 7-8, lines 60-9) “, The character and personality profiling subsystem 120 may be used in advance of robot operation to develop one or more personality profiles and associated distinctive physical character traits, for example, clothing and accessories, appearance, and voice qualities for use during robot operation. The subsystem 120 may be more briefly referred to as a personality profiling subsystem. The robotic behavior mapping subsystem 140 may also be used in advance of robot operation, to map personal behaviors and character traits to social robot behaviors where possible, and to correlate all social behaviors of the robot to a personality scale used for defining the robot's personality profile. The real-time social robot behavior module 160 operates in real time when the social robot is interacting with its live user or users”
Gewecke does not as clearly disclose that the appearance is adapted from a perspective of a second human; and a behavior component that adapts the appearance of the humanoid robot based on a human profile associated with the first human, wherein the human profile comprises information related to social interaction characteristics of interactions between the first human and the second human or that the profile specifically includes social characteristics derived from interactions between the represented first human and that second human. EP ’830 teaches these limitations by disclosing an operator-style evaluation module that analyzes an interaction between an operator and a local person and generates “operator style aspect data associated with the operator and the at least one person based on the analyzed interaction.” EP ’830 further states that the robot may “adapt its own look or visual appearance towards the person” para 0019, thus , It would have been obvious to modify Gewecke’s profile-controlled social robot with EP ’830’s relationship-specific operator-style data and appearance adaptation, since both references concern making robot interaction more socially familiar by reproducing identifiable human appearance, speech, personality, gestures, and behavior.
Claims 2, 10, 16 , further requires that the human profile comprise mobility and activity patterns associated with the first human. Gewecke teaches storing characteristic physical mannerisms, gestures, motions, configurations, poses, and behavioral patterns in connection with a character profile. It also teaches that robot memory stores data for generating characteristic motions or configurations associated with the character and that such movements cause the robot to evoke the portrayed character (col 4, lines 1-30).
Claims 3, 11 and 17 wherein the behavior component further controls physical movements of the humanoid robot based on the human profile. Gewecke teaches that memory stores characteristic motions or configurations associated with a profiled character and that the robot uses those stored characteristics to control how its expressive features move. It further maps personal behaviors and character traits to robot behaviors and causes the social robot to express the profiled traits during real-time interaction, (FIG 5, mapping behaviors).
Claim 4, 12 and 18 wherein the second human selects the human profile from a plurality of human profiles, Gewecke teaches storing multiple distinct personality profiles, switching a current personality profile, obtaining one or more profiles from a profile data store, and loading a selected profile for controlling the robot. EP ’830 expressly teaches a memory storing different operator-style profiles and a local user interface through which the local person provides input used to select the operator-style profile, stating that “the autonomous device is configured to select the operator style profile based on the user input.” Thus, EP ’830 expressly supplies selection by the second human from stored human profile and it would have been within the knowledge of ordinary skilled artisan. .
Claim 5 wherein the visualization component alters the appearance of the humanoid robot via augmented reality, Gewecke expressly teaches that a social robot may be implemented as a virtual machine presented in an immersive virtual-reality environment or an augmented-reality environment. It also teaches character profiles containing appearance information and configuring the virtual social robot to present the selected character and personality traits to its interacting user. (col 8, lines 12-35), It would have been understood that applying the selected visual character traits to the virtual robot displayed in Gewecke’s augmented-reality environment alters the appearance perceived by the AR user.
Claim 6, 13, 19 wherein the computer executable components further comprise: a selection component that selects the human profile from a plurality of human profiles based on the social interaction characteristics of the human profile and an identity of the second human, Gewecke teaches storing multiple personality profiles, identifying the interacting human, storing identifying characteristics in that person’s profile, recognizing the person during later interactions, and changing robot personality or behavior depending on the person with whom the robot is interacting. It further teaches selecting a current personality profile based on a characterized stimulus and stored profile information. EP ’830 teaches selecting or switching among stored operator-style profiles and generating operator-style data associated with both a particular operator and a particular local person. It would have been obvious to use the detected identity of Gewecke’s interacting user as the trigger for selecting the EP relationship-specific profile corresponding to that user, because this would retrieve the profile most relevant to that particular human-robot interaction.
.
Claim 7, 14 and 20. wherein the computer executable components further comprise: a human profile combination component that combines two or more human profiles of a plurality of human profiles to generate a combined human profile and wherein the human profile is the combined human profile, Gewecke expressly teaches combining character traits from different personalities to produce composite effects and teaches that a robot may obtain multiple personality profiles to be blended or may use a single profile generated by blending two or more distinctive profiles. It gives an example of a robot expressing behavioral traits of one character together with the voice and traits of another. Gewecke therefore directly teaches a profile-combination component generating a combined profile from two or more profiles (col 8, lines 55-65)
Claim 8 wherein the second human selects the two or more human profiles of the plurality of human profiles, Gewecke teaches storing multiple profiles and blending multiple personality profiles but does not clearly state that the interacting second human personally selects each profile for combination (col 8, lines 55-65), EP ’830 teaches a local user interface that obtains user input from the local person and selects an operator-style profile based on that input. It would have been obvious to extend EP ’830’s user-selection interface to Gewecke’s disclosed profile-blending process so that the user selects the profiles to be blended. This would merely use a known user-interface selection mechanism to select the inputs to Gewecke’s already disclosed profile-combination operation and would provide predictable user customization.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MASUD AHMED whose telephone number is (571)270-1315. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-8:30 PM PST with IFP.
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MASUD . AHMED
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657A
/MASUD AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657
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