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 .
Applicant’s Submission of a Response
Applicant’s submission of a response on 3/2/2026 has been received and considered. In the response, Applicant elected Species I and amended claims 3, 4, 6 – 8, 14 – 16 and 18 – 20 and withdrawn claims 9 – 11 from consideration. Therefore, claims 1 – 8 and 12 – 20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 2, 13 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sanders (US Pub. No. 2021/0205702).
As per claim 1, Sanders discloses a computer-implemented method to determine a field of view of a player in cinematic mode in a virtual experience, the method comprising: placing a first avatar of a first player at a first position and a second avatar of a second player at a second position in a virtual experience (a multiplayer video game in which players (and their corresponding in-game avatars) are placed at three-dimensional positions within a virtual game map, see [0017], [0048] – [0050], [0163]); determining a bias direction based on the first position and the second position (the camera intelligence module determines an "imaginary ray joining the positions of the two players" and identifies a midway/center point on that ray, thereby computing a direction in the virtual environment that is based on the first and second player positions, see [0162]); determining a bias offset based on the bias direction, the first position, and the second position (the camera intelligence module determines a positional offset of the virtual camera… that "the module 135 is further programmed to cause the virtual camera to offset from the nearest player's position in a direction away from the other player and the center point" and that the camera is "offset from the position of player B by a predefined orientation and/or distance" such that "both players A and B are located on one side (right, left, below, above) of the virtual camera", see [0163]); determining a camera position of a virtual camera in the virtual experience based on the bias offset (computing the three-dimensional coordinate of the virtual camera based on the determined offset: "the module 135 causes the virtual camera to move to, or be assigned to, a three dimensional coordinate such that 1) the virtual camera is closer to player B than player A, 2) both players A and B are located on one side… of the virtual camera and 3) the virtual camera is offset from the position of player B by a predefined orientation and/or distance”, see [0163]); and presenting a field of view of a third player in cinematic mode based on the camera position of the virtual camera (broadcasting the captured video data from the virtual camera to one or more spectator devices over a network for viewing by spectators (i.e., "third players" other than the first and second players whose avatars are being captured), see Fig. 1, Fig. 3B – 3D, and [0037], [0042]).
As per claim 2, Sanders discloses determining the bias offset is further based on
a first vector between the first position and the second position, a second vector that is
perpendicular to the first vector, and an addition of a bias to front subject vector to the second
vector (the use of an imaginary ray (i.e., a first vector) joining the positions of players A and B, [0162]).
As per claim 12, Sanders discloses prior to presenting the field of view in the cinematic mode, generating graphical data of a user interface that includes a button that, when selected, causes the virtual experience to be displayed in the cinematic mode (see [0141] and [0194]).
As per claim 13, the instant claim is a system in which corresponds to the method of claim 1. Therefore, it is rejected for the reasons set forth above.
As per claim 17, the instant claim is a non-transitory computer-readable medium in which corresponds to the method of claim 1. Therefore, it is rejected for the reasons set forth above.
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.
Claims 3, 14, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sanders (US Pub. No. 2021/0205702) in view of Azmandian et al. (US Pub. No. 2020/0289934 A1).
As per claim 3, Sanders does not expressly disclose after presenting the field of view, determining that a distance between the camera position of the virtual camera and the first position of the first avatar is below a distance threshold; and in response to the determining, updating the field of view based on a fourth position of the virtual camera, wherein the field of view switches from capturing a front view to a shoulder view that captures the first avatar and the second avatar from a perspective of being over a shoulder of the third player.
However, Sanders teaches a virtual camera in a multiplayer game and the virtual camera position is dynamically adjusted based on distance considerations (see [0164], the virtual camera is "re-positioned to reduce the predefined distance of units to a minimum possible distance (from the nearest player) required for an unobstructed shot").
Azmandian teaches a method for spectating characters in virtual reality views, wherein multiple spectator viewpoints including "third-person views and over-the-shoulder views that are relatively close to a selected player" and providing "ways to seamlessly transition between various viewpoints, such as between an overhead view and a third-person view", (see [0030] – [0031]). Azmandian further teaches that view transitions are triggered automatically based on distance and proximity criteria within the virtual environment to maintain a comfortable spectating experience ([0030]-[0033]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the distance-threshold-triggered view transition of Azmandian to the spectator camera system of Sanders in order to provide the spectator with a more comfortable and contextually appropriate view of the action when the camera is close to a player avatar.
As per claim 14, the instant claim is a system in which corresponds to the method of claim 3. Therefore, it is rejected for the reasons set forth above.
As per claim 18, the instant claim is a non-transitory computer-readable medium in which corresponds to the method of claim 3. Therefore, it is rejected for the reasons set forth above.
Examiner’s Note
Claims 4 – 8, 15, 16, 19 and 20 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Sanders in view of Azmandian does not expressly teach or suggest updating the field of view to switch from capturing the front view to the shoulder view is further based on a weight, wherein the weight is based on a ratio of: a difference between a maximum distance threshold and a distance between the camera position of the virtual camera and the first position of the first avatar; and the maximum distance threshold (claims 4),; determining to transition from the cinematic mode to a second mode; and determining a start frame associated with the cinematic mode, an end frame associated with the second mode, and interpolating between the start frame and the end frame; and updating the field of view of the third player from the cinematic mode to the second mode based on the interpolating (claims 6, 15 and 19); setting an initial position and initial rotation values for a virtual spring that is associated with the virtual camera; and simulating motion of the virtual camera based on the virtual spring moving from the initial position to a target position, the target position being based on movement of the first avatar and the second avatar within the virtual experience, wherein the virtual spring is configured to simulate a dampening of movement of the virtual camera and a speed of rotation of the virtual camera (claims 8, 16 and 20).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANKIT B DOSHI whose telephone number is (571)270-7863. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri. ~8:30 - ~5:30.
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/ANKIT B DOSHI/Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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