DETAILED ACTIONNotice 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/21/2026 has been entered.
Examiner's Note
The instant application has a lengthy prosecution history and the examiner encourages the applicant to have a telephonic interview with the examiner prior to filing a response to the instant office action. Also, prior to the interview the examiner encourages the applicant to present multiple possible claim amendments, so as to enable the examiner to identify claim amendments that will advance prosecution in a meaningful manner.
Acknowledgment
Claims 1-7 and 9-20, amended on 4/21/2026, are acknowledged by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Presented arguments with respect to claims 1, 9, 16, and their dependent claims have been fully considered, but some are rendered moot in view of the new ground of rejection necessitated by amendments initiated by the applicant s. Examiner addresses the main arguments of the Applicant as below.
Regarding the claim objections, the amendment filed on 4/21/2026 addresses the issue. As a result, the claim objections for claims 9 and 11 are withdrawn.
Regarding the drawing objection, the amendment filed on 4/21/2026 addresses the issue. As a result, the drawing objection in the previous Office action is withdrawn.
Regarding the 35 U.S.C. 112(f) interpretation, the amendment filed on 4/21/2026 addresses the issue. As a result, the 35 U.S.C. 112(f) interpretation is withdrawn.
Objections
Claims 1-7 and 9-20 are objected. “haptic sample” in these claims should be read “a haptic sample” or “the haptic sample”. Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim 1 is objected. “first type haptic sample” and “second type haptic sample” should be read “first type of haptic sample” and “second type of haptic sample”. Appropriate corrections are required.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “sparse haptic data”, “a non-empty sample comprising haptic information”, “an empty sample comprising only a duration information without haptic information”, “the second type of haptic sample indicates a length of time during which there are no haptic effects”, “the quiet period, requesting no delivery of haptic samples during the quiet period”, “the second type of haptic sample is a representation of quiet periods of the haptic track” must be shown or the feature(s) must be canceled from the claims 1-20. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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
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 of this title, 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.
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 factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claims 1-2, 4-6, 8-10, 12-14, 16-17, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birnbaum (US Patent 11,698,680 B2), (“Birnbaum”), in view of Meunier et al. (US Patent 10,984,638 B1), (“Meunier”).
Regarding claim 1, Birnbaum meets the claim limitations as follow.
A method for decoding sparse haptic data (methods and apparatus are provided for generating a haptic effect for a three-dimensional (3D) environment) [Birnbaum: Abstract], the method being performed by at least one processor (The method may be performed by at least one processor of a computing device or a user peripheral device, such as may be performed when the at least one processor executes instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 40-44], the method comprising (methods and apparatus are provided for generating a haptic effect for a three-dimensional (3D) environment) [Birnbaum: Abstract]: receiving a haptic track (The method may include receiving, by at least one processor, media data that describes the 3D environment, wherein the media data includes haptic data which describes a haptic characteristic associated with at least one object, structure, or event in the 3D environment) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 45-49; Figs 11A-15] – Note: Figs 11A-15 illustrates multiple haptic tracks) comprising more than one type of haptic sample (receiving media data that describes the 3D environment, wherein the media data includes haptic data which describes a haptic characteristic associated with at least one object, structure,
or event in the 3D environment) [Birnbaum: Abstract; col. 1, line 45-49] – Note: The haptic tracks includes haptic data comprising of haptic samples); obtaining (extracting) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 51], from the haptic track (a haptic decoding operation that includes extracting the haptic data) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 50-51], a first type haptic sample that is a non-empty unit comprising haptic information ((In some aspects, the haptic rendering operation may have access to different haptic tracks, which may be associated with different sectors in a scene, different geometry types of an object, different virtual surface features or virtual textures, different nested objects, etc. The rendering of haptic effects is discussed below in more detail) [Birnbaum: col. 4, line 54-60]; (In some aspects, the haptic rendering operation may combine a first haptic track which is associated with a particular viewing angle of a user or a particular portion of the 3D environment which falls within a virtual field of view, and a second haptic track which may be independent of the viewing angle of the user. As an example, the first haptic track may be a first haptic characteristic described by the haptic data. In this example, the haptic rendering operation may select the haptic track based on which sector or sectors are in a user's virtual field of view, and use the haptic track to generate a first intermediate signal. Thus, the haptic rendering operation may generate a first intermediate signal based on the first haptic characteristic and based on the user's virtual field of view in the 3D environment) [Birnbaum: col. 20, line 49-62] – Note: Birnbaum discloses a haptic sample that contains different information, hence it is not an empty unit); obtaining (extracting) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 51], from the haptic track, a second type haptic sample (a haptic decoding operation that includes extracting the haptic data) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 50-51], the second type haptic sample (The method further includes performing a haptic decoding operation and a haptic rendering operation. The decoding operation may include extracting the haptic data from the media data) [Birnbaum: Abstract] being an empty unit comprising only a duration information without haptic information ((As discussed below in more detail, the haptic decoding operation may involve extracting haptic data from media data, and/or the haptic rendering operation may involve using the haptic data to generate a drive signal for a particular user peripheral device, a particular haptic output device, and/or a particular situation) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 51] – Note: Birnbaum discloses that the haptic data that indicates a haptic operation in his system can be dedicated for a particular situation without involving other information); (More particularly, the processed file data may include encoded haptic data E'h, encoded audio data E'a, and/or encoded video data E'v. In some implementations, the OMAF player may be configured to decode various encoded data using a codec. For instance, the OMAF player may decode the encoded haptic data E'h into decoded haptic data B'h. The decoding may be, e.g., based on the codec Eh) [Birnbaum: col. 7, line 60-67] – Note: Birnbaum discloses that his system can process haptic data, audio data, and video data. However, in certain situation his system is able to process haptic data alone); (In some instances, the haptic characteristic may be described or represented by a haptic track, such as a waveform which describes vibration intensity as a function of time) [Birnbaum: col. 14, line 29-32] – Note: Birnbaum discloses that the haptic data can be a duration (i.e. a function of time)); and determining (The method may include determining) [Birnbaum: col. 2, line 25] a quiet period of the haptic track based on the duration information in the second type haptic sample.
Birnbaum does not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
a quiet period of the haptic track based on the duration information in the second type haptic sample.
However, in the same field of endeavor Meunier further discloses the claim limitations and the deficient claim limitations, as follows:
the second type haptic sample being an empty unit comprising only a duration information without haptic information ((each haptic sample includes a value that instructs or causes the haptic output device to generate the haptic effect) [Meunier: col. 4, line 20-22]; (For example, the haptic data or haptic signal can
include values for physical parameters such as voltage values, frequency values, current values, and the like) [Meunier: col. 4, line 20-22] – Note: Meunier discloses that each haptic sample can include a single value. This value can be one of physical parameters, such as a frequency value (i.e. duration); (the haptic silence header 502 can be "S:2:5," where S represents a silence type In an embodiment, the haptic silence block 502 includes only the header and does not include a data block. That is, because the haptic silence header 502 represents a silence, e.g., no haptic effect or corresponding data, no data block is required) [Meunier: col. 12, line 21-27]); a quiet period of the haptic track based on the duration information in the second type haptic sample ((As explained in greater detail below with respect to FIGS. 3-5, the encoding system 100 examines contents (e.g., haptic data) of the haptic tracks 171 and identifies one or more first portions of the haptic data (e.g., haptic samples) of the haptic tracks 171 that are sequentially positioned and include silent periods ("haptic silence chunks")) [Meunier: col. 7, line 21-26; Figs 3-5] – Note: Meunier disclose the haptic data can be silent periods); (As described herein, a haptic track 171 includes haptic data (e.g., a haptic signal) that instructs a haptic output device how to perform haptic effects over a period of time, as described above. FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate one example of a haptic track 400 (e.g., and encoding thereof) in accordance with an embodiment hereof. One skilled in the art will realize that FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate one example of a haptic
track and that the haptic tracks 171 may be include any format or configuration of haptic data) [Meunier: col. 9, line 35-38] – Note: Meunier disclose the haptic data can be configurated in any format. Hence it is possible to be format as an empty unit with only a duration and nothing else); (the haptic silence header 502 can be "S:2:5," where S represents a silence type In an embodiment, the haptic silence block 502 includes only the header and does not include a data block. That is, because the haptic silence header 502 represents a silence, e.g., no haptic effect or corresponding data, no data block is required) [Meunier: col. 12, line 21-27]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum with Meunier to program the system to implement of Meunier’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum with Meunier will enable the system to encode the haptic tracks in order to improve and/or optimize transmission and/or playback of the encoded haptic track [Meunier: col. 1, line 38-40].
Regarding claims 2, 10, and 17, Birnbaum meets the claim limitations as set forth in claims 1, 9, and 16. Meunier further discloses:
wherein the duration information in the second type of haptic sample (the haptic silence header 502 can be "S:2:5," where S represents a silence type In an embodiment, the haptic silence block 502 includes only the header and does not include a data block. That is, because the haptic silence header 502 represents a silence, e.g., no haptic effect or corresponding data, no data block is required) [Meunier: col. 12, line 21-27] indicates a length of time during which there are no haptic effects (As explained in greater detail below with respect to FIGS. 3-5, the encoding system 100 examines contents (e.g., haptic data) of the haptic tracks 171 and identifies one or more first portions of the haptic data (e.g., haptic samples) of the haptic tracks 171 that are sequentially positioned and include silent periods ("haptic silence chunks")) [Meunier: col. 7, line 21-26; Figs 3-5]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum with Meunier to program the system to implement of Meunier’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum with Meunier will enable the system to encode the haptic tracks in order to improve and/or optimize transmission and/or playback of the encoded haptic track [Meunier: col. 1, line 38-40].
Regarding claims 4, 12, and 19, Birnbaum meets the claim limitations as set forth in claims 1, 9, and 16. Meunier further discloses the claim limitations as follows:
wherein the second type haptic sample does not comprise the haptic information (the haptic silence header 502 can be "S:2:5," where S represents a silence type. In an embodiment, the haptic silence block 502 includes only the header and does not include a data block. That is, because the haptic silence header 502 represents a silence, e.g., no haptic effect or corresponding data, no data block is required) [Meunier: col. 12, line 21-27].
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum with Meunier to program the system to implement of Meunier’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum with Meunier will enable the system to encode the haptic tracks in order to improve and/or optimize transmission and/or playback of the encoded haptic track [Meunier: col. 1, line 38-40].
Regarding claims 5, 13, and 20, Birnbaum meets the claim limitations as set forth in claims 1, 9, and 16. Meunier further discloses the claim limitations as follows:
wherein the second type haptic sample is a representation of quiet periods of the haptic track (the haptic silence header 502 can be "S:2:5," where S represents a silence type. In an embodiment, the haptic silence block 502 includes only the header and does not include a data block. That is, because the haptic silence header 502 represents a silence, e.g., no haptic effect or corresponding data, no data block is required) [Meunier: col. 12, line 21-27].
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum with Meunier to program the system to implement of Meunier’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum with Meunier will enable the system to encode the haptic tracks in order to improve and/or optimize transmission and/or playback of the encoded haptic track [Meunier: col. 1, line 38-40].
Regarding claims 6 and 14, Birnbaum meets the claim limitations as set forth in claims 1 and 9. Birnbaum does not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
wherein the first type haptic sample and the second type haptic sample are signaled in a high-level syntax.
However, in the same field of endeavor Meunier further discloses the claim limitations and the deficient claim limitations, as follows:
wherein the first type haptic sample and the second type haptic sample are signaled in a high-level syntax ((haptic effects header and haptic data) [Meunier: col. 3, line 46]; (As illustrated in FIG. 5, the format 500 compresses a haptic track based on haptic silences and/or haptic effects. The format 500 can define a haptic silence block 502 and a haptic effect block 504. The haptic silence block 502 includes a haptic silence header 506. The haptic silence header 506 can include an identification of the type of haptic effect, e.g., haptic silence or haptic effect, the number of samples, and the sampling rate) [Meunier: col. 12, line 10-17] – Note: Headers are high level syntax).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum with Meunier to program the system to implement of Meunier’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum with Meunier will enable the system to encode the haptic tracks in order to improve and/or optimize transmission and/or playback of the encoded haptic track [Meunier: col. 1, line 38-40].
Regarding claim 8, Birnbaum meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 1. Meunier further discloses the deficient claim limitations as follows:
wherein the quiet period of the haptic track is used for fragmentation of the haptic track (Likewise, for example, the identification module 153 can examine the specific haptic effect chunk that is too large and set the new haptic effect threshold at a value larger than the sample with the lowest value. For instance, as illustrated in
FIG. 4C, the identification module 153 can examine the haptic effect chunk 414 to identify a sample with the lowest magnitude, e.g., haptic sample 415 and set a new haptic effect threshold 416 at a value at or slightly larger than the lowest magnitude. The identification module 153 can compare the samples the haptic effect chunk 414 to the new haptic threshold 416 and identify locations of lowest magnitude samples. The segmenting module 155 can then select one or more locations at which to subdivide the haptic effect chunk 414 into smaller chunks. For example, the segmenting module 155 can subdivide the haptic effect chunk 414 at the haptic sample 415 into new haptic effect chunks 417 and 418) [Meunier: Col. 13: line 62 – col. 14, line 11; Figs. 4A-4D]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum with Meunier to program the system to implement of Meunier’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum with Meunier will enable the system to encode the haptic tracks in order to improve and/or optimize transmission and/or playback of the encoded haptic track [Meunier: col. 1, line 38-40].
Regarding claim 9, Birnbaum meets the claim limitations as follow.
An apparatus for decoding sparse haptic data (methods and apparatus are provided for generating a haptic effect for a three-dimensional (3D) environment) [Birnbaum: Abstract], the apparatus comprising (apparatus) [Birnbaum: Abstract]: at least one memory configured to store program code (instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 44]; and at least one processor configured to read the program code and operate as instructed by the program code (The method may be performed by at least one processor of a computing device or a user peripheral device, such as may be performed when the at least one processor executes instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The method may include) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 40-45], the program code including (instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 44]:receive a haptic track (The method may include receiving, by at least one processor, media data that describes the 3D environment, wherein the media data includes haptic data which describes a haptic characteristic associated with at least one object, structure, or event in the 3D environment) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 45-49; Figs 11A-15] – Note: Figs 11A-15 illustrates multiple haptic tracks) comprising more than one type of haptic sample (receiving media data that describes the 3D environment, wherein the media data includes haptic data which describes a haptic characteristic associated with at least one object, structure,
or event in the 3D environment) [Birnbaum: Abstract; col. 1, line 45-49] – Note: The haptic tracks includes haptic data comprising of haptic samples); obtain (extracting) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 51], from the haptic track (a haptic decoding operation that includes extracting the haptic data) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 50-51], a first type of haptic sample that is a non-empty sample comprising haptic information ((In some aspects, the haptic rendering operation may have access to different haptic tracks, which may be associated with different sectors in a scene, different geometry types of an object, different virtual surface features or virtual textures, different nested objects, etc. The rendering of haptic effects is discussed below in more detail) [Birnbaum: col. 4, line 54-60]; (In some aspects, the haptic rendering operation may combine a first haptic track which is associated with a particular viewing angle of a user or a particular portion of the 3D environment which falls within a virtual field of view, and a second haptic track which may be independent of the viewing angle of the user. As an example, the first haptic track may be a first haptic characteristic described by the haptic data. In this example, the haptic rendering operation may select the haptic track based on which sector or sectors are in a user's virtual field of view, and use the haptic track to generate a first intermediate signal. Thus, the haptic rendering operation may generate a first intermediate signal based on the first haptic characteristic and based on the user's virtual field of view in the 3D environment) [Birnbaum: col. 20, line 49-62] – Note: Birnbaum discloses a haptic sample that contains different information, hence it is not an empty unit); obtain (extracting) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 51], from the haptic track, a second type haptic sample (a haptic decoding operation that includes extracting the haptic data) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 50-51], the second type haptic sample (The method further includes performing a haptic decoding operation and a haptic rendering operation. The decoding operation may include extracting the haptic data from the media data) [Birnbaum: Abstract] being an empty haptic sample comprising only a duration information without haptic information ((As discussed below in more detail, the haptic decoding operation may involve extracting haptic data from media data, and/or the haptic rendering operation may involve using the haptic data to generate a drive signal for a particular user peripheral device, a particular haptic output device, and/or a particular situation) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 51] – Note: Birnbaum discloses that the haptic data that indicates a haptic operation in his system can be dedicated for a particular situation without involving other information); (More particularly, the processed file data may include encoded haptic data E'h, encoded audio data E'a, and/or encoded video data E'v. In some implementations, the OMAF player may be configured to decode various encoded data using a codec. For instance, the OMAF player may decode the encoded haptic data E'h into decoded haptic data B'h. The decoding may be, e.g., based on the codec Eh) [Birnbaum: col. 7, line 60-67] – Note: Birnbaum discloses that his system can process haptic data, audio data, and video data. However, in certain situation his system is able to process haptic data alone); (In some instances, the haptic characteristic may be described or represented by a haptic track, such as a waveform which describes vibration intensity as a function of time) [Birnbaum: col. 14, line 29-32] – Note: Birnbaum discloses that the haptic data can be a duration (i.e. a function of time)); and determine (The method may include determining) [Birnbaum: col. 2, line 25] a quiet period of the haptic track based on the duration information in the second type haptic sample.
Birnbaum does not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
a quiet period of the haptic track based on the duration information in the second type haptic sample.
However, in the same field of endeavor Meunier further discloses the claim limitations and the deficient claim limitations, as follows:
the second type haptic sample being an empty unit comprising only a duration information without haptic information ((each haptic sample includes a value that instructs or causes the haptic output device to generate the haptic effect) [Meunier: col. 4, line 20-22]; (For example, the haptic data or haptic signal can
include values for physical parameters such as voltage values, frequency values, current values, and the like) [Meunier: col. 4, line 20-22] – Note: Meunier discloses that each haptic sample can include a single value. This value can be one of physical parameters, such as a frequency value (i.e. duration)); a quiet period of the haptic track based on the duration information in the second type haptic sample ((As explained in greater detail below with respect to FIGS. 3-5, the encoding system 100 examines contents (e.g., haptic data) of the haptic tracks 171 and identifies one or more first portions of the haptic data (e.g., haptic samples) of the haptic tracks 171 that are sequentially positioned and include silent periods ("haptic silence chunks")) [Meunier: col. 7, line 21-26; Figs 3-5] – Note: Meunier disclose the haptic data can be silent periods); (As described herein, a haptic track 171 includes haptic data (e.g., a haptic signal) that instructs a haptic output device how to perform haptic effects over a period of time, as described above. FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate one example of a haptic track 400 (e.g., and encoding thereof) in accordance with an embodiment hereof. One skilled in the art will realize that FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate one example of a haptic
track and that the haptic tracks 171 may be include any format or configuration of haptic data) [Meunier: col. 9, line 35-38] – Note: Meunier disclose the haptic data can be configurated in any format. Hence it is possible to be format as an empty unit with only a duration and nothing else).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum with Meunier to program the system to implement of Meunier’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum with Meunier will enable the system to encode the haptic tracks in order to improve and/or optimize transmission and/or playback of the encoded haptic track [Meunier: col. 1, line 38-40].
Regarding claim 16, Birnbaum meets the claim limitations as follow.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions (instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 44], the instructions comprising (instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 44]: one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device for(The method may be performed by at least one processor of a computing device or a user peripheral device, such as may be performed when the at least one processor executes instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The method may include) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 40-45] decoding sparse haptic data (performing a combination of a haptic decoding operation and a haptic rendering operation) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 17-18], cause the one or more processors to (The method may be performed by at least one processor of a computing device or a user peripheral device, such as may be performed when the at least one processor executes instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The method may include) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 40-45]:
receive a haptic track (The method may include receiving, by at least one processor, media data that describes the 3D environment, wherein the media data includes haptic data which describes a haptic characteristic associated with at least one object, structure, or event in the 3D environment) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 45-49; Figs 11A-15] – Note: Figs 11A-15 illustrates multiple haptic tracks) comprising more than one type of haptic sample (receiving media data that describes the 3D environment, wherein the media data includes haptic data which describes a haptic characteristic associated with at least one object, structure,
or event in the 3D environment) [Birnbaum: Abstract; col. 1, line 45-49] – Note: The haptic tracks includes haptic data comprising of haptic samples); obtain (extracting) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 51], from the haptic track (a haptic decoding operation that includes extracting the haptic data) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 50-51], a first type of haptic sample that is a non-empty sample comprising haptic information ((In some aspects, the haptic rendering operation may have access to different haptic tracks, which may be associated with different sectors in a scene, different geometry types of an object, different virtual surface features or virtual textures, different nested objects, etc. The rendering of haptic effects is discussed below in more detail) [Birnbaum: col. 4, line 54-60]; (In some aspects, the haptic rendering operation may combine a first haptic track which is associated with a particular viewing angle of a user or a particular portion of the 3D environment which falls within a virtual field of view, and a second haptic track which may be independent of the viewing angle of the user. As an example, the first haptic track may be a first haptic characteristic described by the haptic data. In this example, the haptic rendering operation may select the haptic track based on which sector or sectors are in a user's virtual field of view, and use the haptic track to generate a first intermediate signal. Thus, the haptic rendering operation may generate a first intermediate signal based on the first haptic characteristic and based on the user's virtual field of view in the 3D environment) [Birnbaum: col. 20, line 49-62] – Note: Birnbaum discloses a haptic sample that contains different information, hence it is not an empty unit); obtain (extracting) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 51], from the haptic track, a second type haptic sample (a haptic decoding operation that includes extracting the haptic data) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 50-51], the second type haptic sample (The method further includes performing a haptic decoding operation and a haptic rendering operation. The decoding operation may include extracting the haptic data from the media data) [Birnbaum: Abstract] being an empty haptic sample comprising only a duration information without haptic information ((As discussed below in more detail, the haptic decoding operation may involve extracting haptic data from media data, and/or the haptic rendering operation may involve using the haptic data to generate a drive signal for a particular user peripheral device, a particular haptic output device, and/or a particular situation) [Birnbaum: col. 1, line 51] – Note: Birnbaum discloses that the haptic data that indicates a haptic operation in his system can be dedicated for a particular situation without involving other information); (More particularly, the processed file data may include encoded haptic data E'h, encoded audio data E'a, and/or encoded video data E'v. In some implementations, the OMAF player may be configured to decode various encoded data using a codec. For instance, the OMAF player may decode the encoded haptic data E'h into decoded haptic data B'h. The decoding may be, e.g., based on the codec Eh) [Birnbaum: col. 7, line 60-67] – Note: Birnbaum discloses that his system can process haptic data, audio data, and video data. However, in certain situation his system is able to process haptic data alone); (In some instances, the haptic characteristic may be described or represented by a haptic track, such as a waveform which describes vibration intensity as a function of time) [Birnbaum: col. 14, line 29-32] – Note: Birnbaum discloses that the haptic data can be a duration (i.e. a function of time)); and determine (The method may include determining) [Birnbaum: col. 2, line 25] a quiet period of the haptic track based on the duration information in the second type haptic sample.
Birnbaum does not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
a quiet period of the haptic track based on the duration information in the second type haptic sample.
However, in the same field of endeavor Meunier further discloses the claim limitations and the deficient claim limitations, as follows:
the second type haptic sample being an empty unit comprising only a duration information without haptic information ((each haptic sample includes a value that instructs or causes the haptic output device to generate the haptic effect) [Meunier: col. 4, line 20-22]; (For example, the haptic data or haptic signal can
include values for physical parameters such as voltage values, frequency values, current values, and the like) [Meunier: col. 4, line 20-22] – Note: Meunier discloses that each haptic sample can include a single value. This value can be one of physical parameters, such as a frequency value (i.e. duration)); a quiet period of the haptic track based on the duration information in the second type haptic sample ((As explained in greater detail below with respect to FIGS. 3-5, the encoding system 100 examines contents (e.g., haptic data) of the haptic tracks 171 and identifies one or more first portions of the haptic data (e.g., haptic samples) of the haptic tracks 171 that are sequentially positioned and include silent periods ("haptic silence chunks")) [Meunier: col. 7, line 21-26; Figs 3-5] – Note: Meunier disclose the haptic data can be silent periods); (As described herein, a haptic track 171 includes haptic data (e.g., a haptic signal) that instructs a haptic output device how to perform haptic effects over a period of time, as described above. FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate one example of a haptic track 400 (e.g., and encoding thereof) in accordance with an embodiment hereof. One skilled in the art will realize that FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate one example of a haptic
track and that the haptic tracks 171 may be include any format or configuration of haptic data) [Meunier: col. 9, line 35-38] – Note: Meunier disclose the haptic data can be configurated in any format. Hence it is possible to be format as an empty unit with only a duration and nothing else).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum with Meunier to program the system to implement of Meunier’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum with Meunier will enable the system to encode the haptic tracks in order to improve and/or optimize transmission and/or playback of the encoded haptic track [Meunier: col. 1, line 38-40].
Claims 3, 11, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birnbaum (US Patent 11,698,680 B2), (“Birnbaum”), in view of Meunier et al. (US Patent 10,984,638 B1), (“Meunier”), in view of Cruz-Hernandez et al. (US Patent 9,158,379 B1), (“Cruz-Hernandez”).
Regarding claims 3, 11, and 18, Birnbaum and Meunier meet the claim limitations as set forth in claims 1, 9, and 16. Cruz-Hernandez further discloses the claim limitations and the deficient claim limitations, as follows:
based on determining the quiet period, requesting no delivery haptic samples during the quiet period (to cease producing the vibrotactile haptic effect for a silent duration) [Cruz-Hernandez: col. 2, line 8-9]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum and Meunier with Cruz-Hernandez to program the system to implement of Cruz-Hernandez’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum and Meunier with Cruz-Hernandez will enable the system to produce an optimal haptic experience for users [Cruz-Hernandez: col. 2, line 55-67].
Claims 7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birnbaum (US Patent 11,698,680 B2), (“Birnbaum”), in view of Meunier et al. (US Patent 10,984,638 B1), (“Meunier”), in view of SMPTE (SMPTE ST 2100-1:2017), (“SMPTE”).
Regarding claims 7 and 15, Birnbaum and Meunier meet the claim limitations as set forth in claims 1 and 9. SMPTE further discloses the deficient claim limitations as follows:
wherein the haptic information comprised in the first type haptic sample is in a binary format (Each sensor, or aggregation, provides elements of sensor data, each one corresponding to a point in time. Likewise, a sensor data element may be created by aggregating other sensor data elements. Each sensor data element may be identified using the Haptic Tactile Essence Type codes defined in Section 5.2.
A sensor data element and a corresponding identification shall be mapped to a binary representation as shown in the Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 below, with sensor data, either from a single sensor or an aggregation, at a sample rate not exceeding 800 samples per second, per sensor (or aggregation)) [SMPTE: Section 5:1; Tables 1-3]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Birnbaum and Meunier with SMPTE to program the system to implement of SMPTE’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Birnbaum and Meunier with SMPTE will enable the system to be compliant with the SMPTE standards [SMPTE: col. 2, line 55-67].
Reference Notice
Additional prior arts, included in the Notice of Reference Cited, made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/Philip P. Dang/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488
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