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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/09/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/09/2026 have been fully considered.
Regarding to objection of claims, the amendment has cured the basis of objection of claims. Therefore, the objection of claims is hereby withdrawn.
Regarding to claim 1, the applicant argues that Creusot does not disclose or suggest that the convex polygon analysis method defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object based on coordinate information of the second object and determines the occlusion relationship based on an outline of the first object intersecting the convex polygon as recited in amended claim 1. The arguments have been fully considered. The argument according “determines the occlusion relationship based on an outline of the first object intersecting the convex polygon” is persuasive. Therefore, the 35 U.S.C 103 rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made in newly applied art. The argument according “wherein the convex polygon analysis method defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object based on coordinate information of the second object” is not persuasive. The examiner cannot concur with the applicant for following reasons:
Creusot discloses “wherein the convex polygon analysis method defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object based on coordinate information of the second object”. For example, in paragraph [0009], Creusot teaches defining a similar polygon around such objects within the region of interest. In paragraph [0030], Creusot teaches projecting the three-dimensional point cloud with coordinates into a two-dimensional range image; Creusot further teaches defining an occlusion polygon around foreground objects, i.e. second project. In paragraph [0033], Creusot teaches converting the three-dimensional sensor signal into a two-dimensional range image/sparse depth map. In paragraph [0035], Creusot teaches the occlusion polygon is defined around a foreground object in the range image that is in proximity to the focal object; Creusot further teaches the occlusion polygon is typically formed as a convex polygon; Creusot further more teaches the range image is cropped to the dimensions of the region of interest.
Claims 2-20 are not allowable due to the newly applied art and similar reasons as discussed above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 10, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The specification describes “if both horizontal coordinate ranges and vertical coordinate ranges of polygons A and B intersect, it is considered that the area of the object intersects with the area of the person” in paragraph [0105]. The specification further describes “the occlusion relationship between the object and the person may be determined by using a convex polygon analysis method” in paragraph [0106]. The specification further describes “construct a relationship between a person and a surrounding environment object” in paragraph [0150]. However, the specification does not describe “wherein the convex polygon analysis method defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object based on coordinate information of the second object and determines the occlusion relationship based on an outline of the first object intersecting the convex polygon”. Therefore, the language “wherein the convex polygon analysis method defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object based on coordinate information of the second object and determines the occlusion relationship based on an outline of the first object intersecting the convex polygon” is new matter. In particularly, the language, “defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object” and “based on an outline of the first object”, is failing to comply with the written description requirement and is new matter.
Dependent claims 2-9, 11-15, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph due to dependency of independent claims 1, 10, and 16.
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 1-4, and 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou (US 20210019892 A1) in view of Goddard (US 6104402 A), in view of Creusot (US 20200081448 A1), and further in view of Okada (US 20060202986 A1).
Regarding to claim 1 (Currently Amended), Zhou discloses an image synthesizing method ([0031]: the methods, devices, and computer-readable media with instructions obtain a foreground video; generate a composite video that includes a foreground video segmented from a captured scene, overlaid on a background different from the original captured background; provide the foreground video in a video conference; Fig. 1; [0032]: server device 104 provides a video application 152b, e.g., a video calling application, an augmented reality application, and a virtual reality application; Fig. 2; [0095]; Fig. 8; [0131]: in each of the output frames, the foreground is separated from the background of the conference room, which has been replaced with a mountain scene; [0134]: processor; GPU; ASIC; [0135]: CPU and GPU perform computation in parallel; the GPU or parallel processor include a GPU memory separate from main memory 904), wherein the method comprises:
determining a posture of a first object in an image and a relative position relationship between the first object and a second object in the image ([0031]: segment and determine a foreground video from a captured scene; [0047]: each image frame includes color data and depth data, i.e. relative position, for a plurality of pixels; [0051]: capture and determine depth data at 15 frames per second; depth data is relative position; Fig. 2; [0054]: determine whether the depth value is within the depth range; categorize each pixel of the selected frame or image as a foreground pixel or a background pixel; Fig. 2; [0058]: detect a head bounding box; the head bounding box may specify a region of the frame that includes a head or is likely to include a head; [0059]: the trimap classifies each pixel of the image as being one of known foreground, known background, and unknown; Fig. 5; [0124]: the foreground of the video frame (502) includes a person with raised arms, i.e. posture of a person;
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; the background of the video frame includes an office environment with a whiteboard and another person at a workstation with their back to the person in the foreground; foreground and background are relative position; Fig. 5; [0125]: a segmentation mask categorizes each pixel of the frame (502) as foreground pixel or background pixel;
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; determine that a person raises his hands and arms and the person is in foreground; foreground pixels of the mask are in white color while background pixels are in black color; Fig. 8; [0131]: the postures include raising a hand with fingers separated in frame 822; and turning the hand in frame 832.);
determining, based on the posture and the relative position relationship, a foreground component comprised in a virtual scene ([0031]: segment and determine a foreground video from a captured scene; [0054]: categorize each pixel of the selected frame or image as a foreground pixel or a background pixel based on depth data; [0059]: the trimap classifies each pixel of the image as being one of known foreground, known background, and unknown; [0083]: create and determine background and foreground color models globally; Fig. 3; [0101]: the segmentation mask is an initial segmentation mask, and is determined from depth data of a video frame; Fig. 5; [0125]: a segmentation mask categorizes each pixel of the frame (502) as foreground pixel or background pixel;
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; determine that a person raises his hands and the person is a foreground in a scene as illustrated in Fig. 5; foreground pixels of the mask are in white color while background pixels are in black color.); and
synthesizing an image of the virtual scene based on the foreground component, an image part comprising the first object, and the relative position relationship ([0031]: generate and synthesize a composite video that includes a foreground video segmented from a captured scene, overlaid on a background different from the original captured background; Fig. 2; [0091]: render the foreground video; generate a plurality of frames that include the foreground, segmented using the binary mask; display the foreground video in a video calling application or other application; [0092]: the user indicates a preference to substitute the background with a particular scene, and such background is synthesized and displayed with the foreground video; Fig. 8; [0131]: an output video includes a foreground generated by segmenting the input video;
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; an output video is a synthesized image; in each of the output frames, the foreground is separated from the background of the conference room, which has been replaced with a mountain scene).
Zhou fails to explicitly disclose:
wherein the relative position relationship comprises a spatial relationship or an occlusion relationship, wherein the occlusion relationship is based on a convex polygon analysis method, wherein the convex polygon analysis method defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object based on coordinate information of the second object and determines the occlusion relationship based on an outline of the first object intersecting the convex polygon.
In same field of endeavor, Goddard teaches:
wherein the relative position relationship comprises a spatial relationship or an occlusion relationship (or is optional; Fig. 1, col. 1, lines 40-55: when rendering a person as a moving object 1 and depicting a building 2 and a tree 3 as background objects, the
moving object 1 is represented in preference to the back ground objects; a person is in front of the building and tree as illustrated in Fig. 1;
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; Fig. 2; col. 1, lines 55-67; col. 2, lines 1-10: display background objects and a moving object;
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; a person is occluded by a tree when a person is at positions c and d as illustrated in Fig. 2; Fig. 10; col. 14, lines 15-25: display in combination of the background object and the moving object at a step 60 shown in FIG. 10; synthesizing process; col. 16, lines 25-37: the depth position of the moving object 1 is farther than that of the background scene 5F and accordingly invisibly hidden by any background object in the background scene; col. 17, lines 36-45: when the moving object 1 comes to a position (c) beside the tree 3, it passes on a deeper side of the tree 3 so that its portion hidden by leaves of the tree 3; col. 17, lined 50-60: the lower half portion of the moving object 1, upon being displayed, is invisibly hidden by the trunk.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou to include wherein the relative position relationship comprises a spatial relationship or an occlusion relationship as taught by Goddard. The motivation for doing so would have been to display background objects and a moving object; to display an image to pass the moving object 1 through the front of the building 2 and the tree 3 as taught by Goddard in Fig. 2 and col. 1, lines 55-67, col. 2, lines 1-10, and col. 17, lines 55-65.
Zhou in view of Goddard fails to explicitly disclose: wherein the occlusion relationship is based on a convex polygon analysis method, wherein the convex polygon analysis method defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object based on coordinate information of the second object and determines the occlusion relationship based on an outline of the first object intersecting the convex polygon.
In same field of endeavor, Creusot teaches:
wherein the occlusion relationship is based on a convex polygon analysis method ([0009]: an occlusion polygon is defined around foreground objects in the region of interest to identify occlusions to traffic lights; the occlusion polygon and related background polygon are typically configured as a convex polygon; [0035]: the occlusion polygon module 206 identifies foreground objects/occlusions by defining an occlusion polygon around the foreground objects based upon the distance information incorporated in the range image; the occlusion polygon is typically formed as a convex polygon; [0043]: detect an occlusion via the occlusion polygon 410), wherein the convex polygon analysis method defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object based on coordinate information of the second object ([0009]: define a similar polygon around such objects within the region of interest; [0030]: project the three-dimensional point cloud with coordinates into a two-dimensional range image with coordinates; define an occlusion polygon around foreground objects, i.e. second project; [0035]: the occlusion polygon is defined around a foreground object in the range image that is in proximity to the focal object; the occlusion polygon is typically formed as a convex polygon; the range image is cropped to the dimensions of the region of interest).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou in view of Goddard to include wherein the occlusion relationship is based on a convex polygon analysis method, wherein the convex polygon analysis method defines a convex polygon surrounding the second object based on coordinate information of the second object as taught by Creusot. The motivation for doing so would have been to detect occlusions; to identify occlusions by defining an occlusion polygon around the foreground objects based upon the distance information incorporated in the range image; to detect an occlusion via the occlusion polygon 410 as taught by Creusot in paragraphs [0033], [0035], and [0043].
Zhou in view of Goddard and Creusot fails to explicitly disclose:
determines the occlusion relationship based on an outline of the first object intersecting the convex polygon.
In same field of endeavor, Okada teaches
determines the occlusion relationship based on an outline of the first object intersecting the convex polygon (Fig. 1; [0036]: the three-dimensional figure data A includes data representing the positions of vertexes of polygons obtained by approximating the human body surface by a set of polygons, and data representing the positions of joints of the human body;
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; [0040]: the clothes figure data C includes the three-dimensional shape and the surface patterns of the clothing; Fig. 4; [0071]: the clothes simulation unit 4 expresses the surfaces of the clothes by a set of polygons based on the clothes figure data C.; Fig. 4; [0073]: the display unit 5 displays the images of the clothes overlapped on the images of the person obtained from the image capturing unit 1; the display portion 5 finds an occlusion relationship between the clothes and the person within the image plane; this occlusion relationship is based upon the three-dimensional coordinates of vertexes of polygons on the clothes computed by the clothes simulation unit 4 and based upon the three-dimensional coordinates of points of the three-dimensional figure models).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou in view of Goddard and Creusot to include “determines the occlusion relationship based on an outline of the first object intersecting the convex polygon” as taught by Okada. The motivation for doing so would have been to find an occlusion relationship between the clothes and the person within the image plane; to synthesize the images of the clothes on the images of the person based on the occlusion relationship and displays the synthesized images as taught by Okada in paragraphs [0071-0073].
Regarding to claim 2 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
determining an area of the second object in the image by performing semantic segmentation on an image that comprises the second object but does not comprise the first object (Zhou; Fig. 2; [0054]: categorize each pixel of the selected frame or image as a foreground pixel or a background pixel; [0055]: if a pixel is determined to be a background pixel, a mask value of 0 is assigned to the pixel, and if a pixel is determined to be a foreground pixel, a mask value of 255 may be assigned to the pixel; determine a mask area with value 0; the area of the second object is a mask area with value 0; Fig. 5; [0124-0125]: foreground pixels of the mask are in white color while background pixels are in black color; Fig. 8; [0131]).
Regarding to claim 3 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the determining a relative position relationship between the first object and a second object (same as rejected in claim 1) comprises:
determining the relative position relationship between the first object and the second object based on coordinate information of an area of the first object in the image and coordinate information of the area of the second object in the image (Zhou; [0047]: each image frame includes color data and depth data, i.e. relative position, for a plurality of pixels; [0051]: capture and determine depth data at 15 frames per second; depth data is relative position; [0054]: the depth value for each pixel is compared to the depth range to determine whether the depth value is within the depth range; if the depth value is within the depth range, the pixel is categorized as a foreground pixel; if the depth value is outside the depth range, the pixel is categorized as a background pixel; [0060]: the mask boundary corresponds to locations, e.g., expressed in pixel coordinates, where at least one foreground pixel is adjacent to at least one background pixel in the initial segmentation mask; Fig. 5; [0124-0125]: the left side of the image includes background as illustrated in in Fig. 5;
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; Fig. 8; [0131]).
Regarding to claim 4 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining a foreground component comprised in a virtual scene (same as rejected in claim 1) comprises:
selecting, based on a relative size of the first object and the second object in the image, the foreground component whose size matches the first object (Zhou; [0052]: the size of the down-sampled video is selected based on the size of the received video; [0090]: the respective binary mask is utilized to obtain a foreground video; [0111]: a location and a size are determined to detect the location of the head area; Fig. 5; [0124-0125]: the size of mask matches the size of a person as illustrated in Fig. 5; foreground pixels of the mask are in white color while background pixels are in black color.).
Regarding to claim 9 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first object is a person or a virtual image, and the second object is a static object (Zhou; Fig. 5; [0124-0125]: the foreground of the video frame (502) includes a person with raised arms; the background of the video frame includes an office environment with a whiteboard in the foreground; an office environment with a whiteboard is a static object; Fig. 8; [0131]: an output video is a synthesized image; in each of the output frames, the foreground is separated from the background of the conference room, which has been replaced with a mountain scene; conference room is a static object).
Regarding to claim 10 (Currently Amended), Zhou discloses an image synthesizing apparatus, wherein the apparatus ([0031]: the methods, devices, and computer-readable media with instructions obtain a foreground video; generate a composite video that includes a foreground video segmented from a captured scene, overlaid on a background different from the original captured background; provide the foreground video in a video conference; Fig. 1; [0032]: server device 104 provides a video application 152b, e.g., a video calling application, an augmented reality application, and a virtual reality application; Fig. 2; [0095]; Fig. 8; [0131]: in each of the output frames, the foreground is separated from the background of the conference room, which has been replaced with a mountain scene; [0134]: processor; GPU; ASIC; [0135]: CPU and GPU perform computation in parallel; the GPU or parallel processor include a GPU memory separate from main memory 904) comprises:
at least one processor configured to ([0134]: processor; GPU; ASIC):
the rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 1. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 1 is also used to reject claim 10.
Regarding to claim 11 (Previously Presented), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further (same as rejected in claim 10):
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 2. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 2 is also used to reject claim 11.
Regarding to claim 12 (Previously Presented), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to (same as rejected in claim 10):
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 3. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 3 is also used to reject claim 12.
Regarding to claim 13 (Previously Presented), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to (same as rejected in claim 10):
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 4. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 4 is also used to reject claim 13.
Regarding to claim 14 (Presented Previously), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the apparatus according to claim 10, and the at least one processor is further configured to (same as rejected in claim 10):
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 5. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 5 is also used to reject claim 14.
Regarding to claim 15 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the apparatus according to claim 10,
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 9. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 9 is also used to reject claim 15.
Regarding to claim 16 (Currently Amended), Zhou discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer instructions that configure at least one processor, upon execution of the instructions, to perform the following steps ([0031]: the methods, devices, and computer-readable media with instructions obtain a foreground video; generate a composite video that includes a foreground video segmented from a captured scene, overlaid on a background different from the original captured background; provide the foreground video in a video conference; Fig. 1; [0032]: server device 104 provides a video application 152b, e.g., a video calling application, an augmented reality application, and a virtual reality application; Fig. 2; [0095]; Fig. 8; [0131]: in each of the output frames, the foreground is separated from the background of the conference room, which has been replaced with a mountain scene; [0134]: processor; GPU; ASIC; [0135]: CPU and GPU perform computation in parallel; the GPU or parallel processor include a GPU memory separate from main memory 904; [0138]: memory 904 is typically provided in device 900 for access by the processor 902; [0140]: any of software in memory 904 is alternatively be stored on any other suitable storage location or computer-readable medium):
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 1. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 1 is also used to reject claim 16.
Regarding to claim 17 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage media according to claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 2. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 2 is also used to reject claim 17.
Regarding to claim 18 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage media according to claim 16,
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 3. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 3 is also used to reject claim 18.
Regarding to claim 19 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage media according to claim 16,
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 4. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 4 is also used to reject claim 19.
Regarding to claim 20 (Currently Amended), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage media according to claim 16,
The rest claim limitations are similar to claim limitations recited in claim 5. Therefore, same rational used to reject claim 5 is also used to reject claim 20.
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 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou (US 20210019892 A1) in view of Goddard (US 6104402 A), in view of Creusot (US 20200081448 A1), and further in view of Okada (US 20060202986 A1).
Regarding to claim 5 (Currently Amended), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the relative position relationship comprises the synthesizing an image of the virtual scene comprises: synthesizing the image of the virtual scene (Zhou; [0091]: render the foreground video; Fig. 5; [0124-0125]; Fig. 8; [0131]).
Zhou fails to explicitly disclose: the occlusion relationship between the first object and the second object; wherein the first object and the foreground component satisfy the occlusion relationship in the synthesized image of the virtual scene.
In same field of endeavor, Goddard teaches:
the occlusion relationship between the first object and the second object (Fig. 2; col. 1, lines 55-67; col. 2, lines 1-10: display background objects and a moving object;
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; Fig. 10; col. 14, lines 15-25: display in combination of the background object and the moving object at a step 60 shown in FIG. 10; synthesizing process; col. 16, lines 25-37: the depth position of the moving object 1 is farther than that of the background scene 5F and accordingly invisibly hidden by any background object in the background scene; col. 17, lines 36-45: when the moving object 1 comes to a position (c) beside the tree 3, it passes on a deeper side of the tree 3 so that its portion hidden by leaves of the tree 3; col. 17, lined 50-60: the lower half portion of the moving object 1, upon being displayed, is invisibly hidden by the trunk.);
wherein the first object and the foreground component satisfy the occlusion relationship in the synthesized image of the virtual scene (Fig. 2; col. 1, lines 55-67; col. 2, lines 1-10: display background objects and a moving object;
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; col. 17, lines 55-65: display an image to pass the moving object 1 through the front of the building 2 and the tree 3; col. 18; lines 10-25: when the color data stores by the image buffer 152 is read out in synchronism with raster Scanning over the display 31, an image as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou to include the occlusion relationship between the first object and the second object; wherein the first object and the foreground component satisfy the occlusion relationship in the synthesized image of the virtual scene as taught by Goddard. The motivation for doing so would have been to display background objects and a moving object; to display an image to pass the moving object 1 through the front of the building 2 and the tree 3 as taught by Goddard in Fig. 2 and col. 1, lines 55-67, col. 2, lines 1-10, and col. 17, lines 55-65.
Regarding to claim 6 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein
updating the foreground component comprised in the virtual scene (Zhou; Fig. 8; [0131]: raise a hand with fingers separated in frame 822; and turns the hand in frame 832.), and
synthesizing the image of the virtual scene based on an updated foreground component, the image part comprising the first object, and the relative position relationship (Zhou; Fig. 8; [0131]: the foreground is separated from the background of the conference room; the corresponding output frame correctly segments the foreground).
Zhou fails to explicitly disclose:
when a position of the first object in a background is updated, and an updated position of the first object and a position of the foreground component enable the first object and the foreground component not to satisfy the occlusion relationship.
In same field of endeavor, Goddard teaches:
when a position of the first object in a background is updated, and an updated position of the first object and a position of the foreground component enable the first object and the foreground component not to satisfy the occlusion relationship (Fig. 2; col. 1, lines 55-67; col. 2, lines 1-10: display background objects and a moving object; when the moving object 1 passes past an left end of the building 2 and further moves from the position (d) to a position (e), it is solely displayed because of the absence of the building 2 or the tree 3 there;
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).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou to include when a position of the first object in a background is updated, and an updated position of the first object and a position of the foreground component enable the first object and the foreground component not to satisfy the occlusion relationship as taught by Goddard. The motivation for doing so would have been to display background objects and a moving object; to display an image to pass the moving object 1 through the front of the building 2 and the tree 3 as taught by Goddard in Fig. 2 and col. 1, lines 55-67, col. 2, lines 1-10, and col. 17, lines 55-65.
Regarding to claim 7 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein
indicating a camera that captures the image to photograph the first object in a close-up manner (Zhou; [0054]: indicating whether the pixel is a foreground pixel or a background pixel ; participate in a video call are close to a camera that captures the video, e.g., in a conference room, at a desk, etc.), and
synthesizing the image of the virtual scene based on the image part comprising the first object photographed in the close-up manner (Zhou; Fig. 2; [0091]: render the foreground video; Fig. 8; [0131]: the foreground is separated from the background of the conference room; the corresponding output frame correctly segments the foreground).
Zhou fails to explicitly disclose:
when a position of the first object in a background is updated, and an updated position of the first object and a position of the foreground component enable the first object and the foreground component not to satisfy the occlusion relationship,
In same field of endeavor, Goddard teaches:
when a position of the first object in a background is updated, and an updated position of the first object and a position of the foreground component enable the first object and the foreground component not to satisfy the occlusion relationship (Fig. 2; col. 1, lines 55-67; col. 2, lines 1-10: display background objects and a moving object; when the moving object 1 passes past an left end of the building 2 and further moves from the position (d) to a position (e), it is solely displayed because of the absence of the building 2 or the tree 3 there;
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),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou to include when a position of the first object in a background is updated, and an updated position of the first object and a position of the foreground component enable the first object and the foreground component not to satisfy the occlusion relationship as taught by Goddard. The motivation for doing so would have been to display background objects and a moving object; to display an image to pass the moving object 1 through the front of the building 2 and the tree 3 as taught by Goddard in Fig. 2 and col. 1, lines 55-67, col. 2, lines 1-10, and col. 17, lines 55-65.
Regarding to claim 8 (Original), Zhou in view of Goddard, Creusot, and Okada discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein
adjusting the position of the foreground component, to enable an adjusted foreground component and the first object (Zhou; Fig. 8; [0131]: raise a hand with fingers separated in frame 822; and turns the hand in frame 832; the foreground is separated from the background of the conference room; the corresponding output frame correctly segments the foreground).
Zhou fails to explicitly disclose:
to satisfy the occlusion relationship;
when a position of the first object in a background is updated, and an updated position of the first object and a position of the foreground component enable the first object and the foreground component not to satisfy the occlusion relationship,
In same field of endeavor, Goddard teaches:
to satisfy the occlusion relationship (col. 16, lines 25-37: the depth position of the moving object 1 is farther than that of the background scene 5F and accordingly invisibly hidden by any background object in the background scene; col. 17, lines 36-45: when the moving object 1 comes to a position (c) beside the tree 3, it passes on a deeper side of the tree 3 so that its portion hidden by leaves of the tree 3; col. 17, lined 50-60: the lower half portion of the moving object 1, upon being displayed, is invisibly hidden by the trunk);
when a position of the first object in a background is updated, and an updated position of the first object and a position of the foreground component enable the first object and the foreground component not to satisfy the occlusion relationship (Fig. 2; col. 1, lines 55-67; col. 2, lines 1-10: display background objects and a moving object; when the moving object 1 passes past an left end of the building 2 and further moves from the position (d) to a position (e), it is solely displayed because of the absence of the building 2 or the tree 3 there;
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).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou to include to satisfy the occlusion relationship; when a position of the first object in a background is updated, and an updated position of the first object and a position of the foreground component enable the first object and the foreground component not to satisfy the occlusion relationship as taught by Goddard. The motivation for doing so would have been to display background objects and a moving object; to display an image to pass the moving object 1 through the front of the building 2 and the tree 3 as taught by Goddard in Fig. 2 and col. 1, lines 55-67, col. 2, lines 1-10, and col. 17, lines 55-65.
Conclusion
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/HAI TAO SUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2616
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