DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
Applicant’s submission of an Information Disclosure Statement on 4/14/2024 has been received and considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claims appear to be directed to software per se without, for example, clearly being a computer-implemented method, non-transitory CRM, or a system/apparatus. It is noted that the claims recite a game “program” (software) and a control method, but claims 1-6 do not appear to be directed to “computer-implemented” method because computer structure is not recited in the claims. It is further noted that claims 7-12 appear to be eligible subject matter as drawn to a statutory class of subject (system/apparatus) and is implemented in a particular machine.
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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0300390 to Malafew in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0362632 to Kwak. (Malafew, Figs. 1 and 6 are shown below for convenience, but the entire reference is relevant).
PNG
media_image1.png
627
807
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
642
759
media_image2.png
Greyscale
With regard to claim 1, Malafew discloses a game program control method (e.g., see title, “Virtual Reality Exercise Game”) with sports equipment (e.g., see Fig. 1 that shows a bicycle, see also paragraph 3 that states “[t]his specification describes technologies related to virtual reality and exercise equipment”), comprising: capturing a user position data of a user operating the sports equipment (e.g. see paragraphs 31 that discusses a head sensor to capture user body position); analyzing the user position data to detect a position of at least one body part of the user (e.g., see at least Fig. 7, step 702, “Determine a head rotation”); obtaining an angle between a target direction corresponding to the position of the at least one body part and a base direction (e.g., see at least Fig. 7, step 702, “Determine a head rotation”; see also Fig. 6 that shows obtaining and angle, for example, angle 604 or 604, compared to a base angle 614b, 614c; see also paragraph 95 for discussion of comparison angles); moving a target object in the game program according to the position of the at least one body part if the angle is greater than a threshold angle (e.g., see at least paragraph 49 that discusses a lean threshold, “less than 0.2 meters or 20 centimeters may be ignored”); and maintaining the target object at a current position of the target object if the angle is not greater than the threshold angle (e.g., see at least paragraph 49 that discusses a lean threshold, “less than 0.2 meters or 20 centimeters may be ignored”);
[claim 2] wherein the step of moving the target object in the game program according to the position of the at least one body part comprises: determining a moving direction of the target object according to the position of the at least one body part (e.g., see at least paragraph 31 for discussion of determining head position with a head sensor); and controlling the target object to move towards the moving direction (e.g., see at least paragraphs 70-71 that discuss a virtual head 406 displayed in the virtual environment “is additionally moved and rotated to follow the user’s actual head as determined by the virtual reality head sensors”);
[claim 3] wherein the step of controlling the target object to move towards the moving direction comprises: controlling a moving distance of the target object in the moving direction according to maintaining time during which the angle is greater than the threshold angle (e.g., see at least paragraphs 70-71 that discuss a virtual head 406 displayed in the virtual environment “is additionally moved and rotated to follow the user’s actual head as determined by the virtual reality head sensors”; see also at least paragraph 49 for discussion of lean threshold);
[claim 4] wherein the maintaining time is positively related to the moving distance (e.g., see at least paragraph 80 for discussion of time associated with moving distance);
[claim 5] further comprising: analyzing the user image to detect a distance between a first target body part and a second target body part of the user; and adjusting a control parameter of at least one of the sports equipment and the game program according to a change in the distance (e.g., see at least paragraph 62 for discussion user inputs controlling parameters of the game program);
[claim 6] further comprising: presenting a game image corresponding to the game program via a display device; and presenting the target object in the game image (e.g., see at least Fig. 3; see also paragraphs 23 and 61-75 for discussion of coordinated virtual object movement in a display).
Regarding claim 1, Malafew is silent regarding capturing an image of a user and analyzing a user image to detect a position of at least one body part of the user. As discussed above, Malafew uses a sensor system for detecting user body position (e.g., see at least paragraph 31), but does not appear to utilize a user image.
From the same field of endeavor, Kwak teaches a variety of position sensors including that recognition sensor (200) “may be a depth image camera” (e.g., see Kwak at paragraph 19 for discussion of using a camera for analyzing user image data that relates to head or upper body motion of a player).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current invention to modify Malafew with the image-based sensor as taught by Kwak in order provide a simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results. In this case, users may not want to be burdened with head mounted VR device and would prefer a traditional display, wherein the image sensor would permit determination of head/body position without the VR headset.
Claims 7-12 are made obvious by Malafew in view of Kwak as discussed above for claims 1-6, which are similar in scope. It is noted that Malafew discloses system hardware in at least paragraphs 104 to 112, including a processor, memory, and a signal transmission interface. Kwak, as discussed above, teaches the use of a camera as position sensor.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, includes:
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0296966 to Asikainen discusses tracking user exercise with sensors (e.g., see at least Fig. 1B),
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0249946 to Zhou discusses using a camera to sense body position as input in a video game (e.g., see at least paragraph 7 and Figs 5F and 6B).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0046391 to Board discusses a virtual reality motion simulator (e.g., see at least Figs. 2A-2C and Fig. 8).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0159277 to Fung discusses a full body movement control of dual joystick operated device (e.g., see at least Figs. 3 and 4).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0101352 to Liu discusses a balance exercise machine for playing a VR game (e.g., see at least Fig. 10).
U.S. Patent No. 10,078,410 to Isaak discusses a video game input system that allows in initial input to be maintained until cleared (e.g., see at least paragraph 47).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0245236 to Takayama discusses a gaming input device that measure gravity center position for game input including the concept of holding an input (e.g., see at least paragraph 117, as well as, Figs. 13-14, and 22).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0233769 to Pryor discusses motivating persons with respect to exercise including game play and social interaction (e.g., see at least Fig. 1b and 2b).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES S MCCLELLAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7167. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kang Hu can be reached at 571-270-1344. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/James S. McClellan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715