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
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) 1-8, 10 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. US 2023/0036762 in view of Georgiev et al. US 2017/0285308.
Regarding claim 1, Hong teaches eyewear (see at least Figs. 2-3, wearable electronic device 200 and 300), comprising:
a frame (see para 0070-0071 and Fig. 2: frame of the wearable electronic device 200);
a lens (Fig. 2 and para 0064: left and right lenses 225a and 225b);
a camera disposed in the frame (see Fig. 3: eye tracking (ET) camera 210), the camera including a first optical element (as shown in Fig. 3: ET camera 310 is associated with camera optics i.e., ET optics); and
a projector disposed in the frame (see Fig. 3: display 320), adjacent to the camera (ET camera 310), the projector including a second optical element (as shown in Fig. 3: display 320 is at least associated with projection lens 325).
Hong fails to teach: the first optical element fabricated on a transparent wafer and the second optical element fabricated on a same transparent wafer as the first optical element.
Georgiev discloses wafer-level optical elements including:
Transparent wafers on which microlenses are fabricated (see, e.g., Fig. 1 and associated description discloses multiple microlenses 111, 112, 122, 121 fabricated on a wafer). Optical elements formed at the wafer level that are configured to replace conventional discrete lens elements, thereby providing optical power while reducing thickness, improving alignment accuracy and simplifying assembly. The fabrication of multiple optical elements on a single wafer forming microlenses in different regions of the same wafer (see Fig. 1). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the eyewear of Hong by fabricating the camera optical element and the projector optical element on a single wafer as taught by Georgiev in order to reduce the thickness and weight of the eyewear, improve optical alignment between the components and facilitate compact integration suitable for head-mounted devices.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Hong and Georgiev teaches the eyewear of claim 1, and Georgiev further teaches wherein the first optical element includes a first microlens formed on a front-facing surface of the transparent wafer and a second microlens formed on a rear-facing surface of the transparent wafer (as shown in Fig. 1: front and rear facing microlenses i.e., 111 and 112 are formed on the wafer 110).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Hong and Georgiev teaches the eyewear of claim 1, Georgiev further teaches wherein the second optical element includes a first microlens formed on a front-facing surface of the transparent wafer and a second microlens formed on a rear-facing surface of the transparent wafer (as shown in Fig. 1: front and rear facing microlenses i.e., 111 and 112 are formed on the wafer 110).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Hong and Georgiev teaches the eyewear of claim 1, and Hong further teaches wherein the projector further includes a transparent waveguide that extends into the lens of the eyewear (see Fig. 3: waveguide 350).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Hong and Georgiev teaches the eyewear of claim 4, and Hong further teaches wherein light emitted from the projector passes through the transparent waveguide (see para 0064: “The display waveguide 350 and the eye tracking waveguide 360 may function to transmit a light source generated by the first display 205 and/or the second display 210 to eyes of the user”).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Hong and Georgiev teaches the eyewear of claim 4, and Hong further teaches wherein light incident on the camera passes through the transparent waveguide (see para 0064: “The display waveguide 350 and the eye tracking waveguide 360 may function to transmit a light source generated by the first display 205 and/or the second display 210 to eyes of the user”).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Hong teaches the eyewear of claim 1, except for wherein the camera further includes an optical element formed on a different transparent wafer. However, Georgiev teaches fabrication optical element i.e., microlenses on a wafer (see Fig. 1). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement the camera optical element on a different transparent wafer than the wafer used for projector optical element, and this represents a known and predictable design alternative in wafer-level optical systems. Such modification would have been motivated by, independent optimization of camera and projector optical characteristics, simplified fabrication and yield separating optical functions.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Hong teaches the eyewear of claim 1, except for wherein the projector further includes an optical element formed on a different transparent wafer. However, Fig. 1 of Georgiev further teaches that different optical element i.e., 122 and 121 are formed on different wafer. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement the projector optical element on a different transparent wafer and this represents a known and predictable design alternative in wafer-level optical systems. Such modification would have been motivated by, independent optimization of projector optical characteristics, simplified fabrication and yield separating optical functions.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Hong and Georgiev teaches the eyewear of claim 1, and wherein the projector includes a micro-LED panel (para 0087: “the display 320 may include micro LEDs”).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Hong and Georgiev teaches the eyewear of claim 1, and Georgiev further teaches wherein the camera further includes a third optical element, and the projector further includes a fourth optical element, wherein the third optical element and the fourth optical element are fabricated on a same transparent wafer (Fig. 1: teaches different optical elements i.e., 111 and other microlenses above microlenses 11 formed on the same wafer).
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Claim(s) 9 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong and Georgiev as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Fortin US 2021/0011289.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Hong teaches the eyewear of claim 1, except for wherein the projector emits light in a same direction as the camera receives light.
Fortin teaches well-known alternative configuration for head-mounted device in which projector emits light forward into the users’ eye and camera receives light from the same forward direction (see Fig. 2A and para 0073: “The user (1) wearing the HMD (7) looks at a display (27) through wide angle eyepieces (26, 35). Two RGB cameras (28, 34) located in front of the eyes (22, 38) capture the environment that the user's eyes would see if they were not occluded by the HMD (7).”). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to configure the eyewear of the combined reference such that the projector emits light in the same general direction as the camera receives as taught by Fortin in order to enable environmental tracking or reconstruction. The modification represents a known directional configuration for projector-camera systems in head-mounted device and would have yield predictable results, rendering the subject matter.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Hong teaches the eyewear of claim 1, and Hong further teaches wherein the camera is a first camera (see Fig. 3: camera 310). Georgiev further teaches that multiple optical elements may be fabricated on the same wafer (see Fig. 1). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to fabricate optical elements for both the first camera and the second camera on the same transparent wafer in order to improve alignment between camera optical axes, and reduce part count and system thickness.
The combination of Hong fails to teach further comprising a second camera including a third optical element fabricated on the same transparent wafer.
Fortin teaches a second camera including a third optical element (see Fig. 2a: first camera 28 and second camera 34). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include a second camera in the eyewear of the combined modification, as head mounted devices commonly employ multiple cameras for function such as stereo imaging, depth sensing, tracking, redundancy or expanded field of view.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong and Georgiev as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Schowengerdit et al. US 2023/0393401.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Hong teaches the eyewear of claim 1, except for wherein the projector is a first projector (see Fig. 3: projector 320). Georgiev further teaches that multiple optical elements may be fabricated on the same wafer (see Fig. 1). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to fabricate optical elements for both the first camera and the second camera on the same transparent wafer in order to improve alignment between camera optical axes, and reduce part count and system thickness.
The combination of Hong fails to teach further comprising a second projector including a fourth optical element fabricated on the same transparent wafer.
Schowengerdt teaches the use of multiple projectors comprising a first and a second projector (see Figs. 2A-2B and para 0039: projectors 150 and 160). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate a second projector into the combined eyewear, as multiple projectors are commonly used to support multi-region or multi-view injection and also increase brightness or resolution.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2023/0393399: teaches the orientation of the camera may be dependent on the use of the camera in the head-mounted display (HMD) device. For example, if the camera performs eye tracking, the camera may be oriented to face the eye side of the head-mounted display (HMD) device. As another example, if the camera captures images of the environment, the camera may be oriented to face the world side of the head-mounted display (HMD) device.
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/EPHREM Z MEBRAHTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872