DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This action is in response to the filing of the Amendments on 12/17/2025.
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 – 5, 7, 11 – 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Giovanardi (US 20250065902) in view of Saito (US 20240256042).
Claim 1, Giovanardi discloses an apparatus for controlling a host vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a communication device configured to receive first driving information of a front vehicle; at least one sensor configured to obtain second driving information of the host vehicle [see p0019, p0225 – p0231, p0247, p0363, p0377, p0382-p0385 – Giovanardi discloses several ways one vehicle can communicate with another such that the lead vehicle relays real-time driving conditions to the following vehicle. Many ways, such as cloud information, crowd sourcing, and specifically teaches a reference behavior may be stored in a terrain-based localization database, which may be a cloud database. In some implementations, a reference behavior may be determined by another vehicle that has recently traversed a road segment, for example, another vehicle currently driving along the same route (i.e., “just ahead” of the current vehicle). In some implementations, a reference behavior may be defined based on a combination of sources]; and
Giovanardi does not specifically disclose a processor configured to generate real behavior information of the host vehicle based on the second driving information, generate predicted behavior information of the host vehicle based on at least one of the first driving information, the second driving information, or any combination of the first driving information and the second driving information, and determine a manner of outputting a sound based on the real behavior information or the predicted behavior information.
However, Giovanardi does teach at Fig 39, p0382 – p0385 - a microprocessor on-board an autonomous or a driven vehicle, travelling along a road, may receive information from, for example, a cloud-based database and/or a microprocessor associated with the cloud, that there is certain road content ahead. At block 8604, the microprocessor on-board the vehicle may also receive information about the characteristics of the upcoming road content. This information may include, for example, the type of road content, which may include, without limitation, a pothole, a frost heave, a turn, or a bump. In some embodiments, if the road content is a pothole, the information may include data about the dimensions of the pothole, such as, the depth, width and/or the length of the pothole. Alternatively, if the road content is a turn, the information may further include data about the severity of the turn. For example, at block 8608, it may be determined that at least one passenger, who may be working on a laptop, may experience discomfort, such as motion sickness, if that passenger is surprised by the upcoming left turn, at the current speed of the vehicle. Based on that determination, a cue may be given, at block 8610, to at least the one passenger who is likely to experience discomfort. A cue includes a cue selected from the group consisting of visual, audio, or tactile cues.
It would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in Giovanardi, to include a processor configured to generate real behavior information of the host vehicle based on the second driving information, generate predicted behavior information of the host vehicle based on at least one of the first driving information, the second driving information, or any combination of the first driving information and the second driving information, and determine a manner of outputting a sound based on the real behavior information or the predicted behavior information, as suggested and taught, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing information to the passengers or users of the vehicle so that they may prepare and be aware of the road and vehicle conditions. The use of sounds creates interactive and immersive automotive audio experiences directly from real vehicle data instead of relying on incomplete and inaccurate simulations.
Giovanardi is silent to output the sound through an output device based on the determined manner of outputting the sound; and determine a state of an occupant based on input information, wherein the input information is input through an input device by the occupant and includes feedback of a motion sickness extent experienced by the occupant.
However, Saito discloses an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program that make it possible to sufficiently suppress a visually induced motion sickness of a user.
Further discloses, a microphone 24 is a sound collecting element that collects sound produced by the user 1. Typically, the microphone 24 is included in the HMD 10. However, for example, a stationary microphone 24 or the like may be used. Sound of the user 1 that is detected by the microphone 24 is used for, for example, a conversation in the video content and sound input; a state of sound itself of the user 1 may be used as the user state information. In this case, the sound of the user 1 is analyzed using, for example, frequency analysis. On the basis of a result of the analysis, whether a state of a voice of the user 1 departs from a steady state is detected. Further, a degree of the departing of the voice of the user 1 may be detected. For example, in the case in which a tone of voice of the user 1 departs from a usual tone, the degree of visually induced motion sickness is determined to be higher if an extent of the departing is higher or if a period of time for which the tone of voice of the user 1 departs from the usual tone is longer.
Further, the details of sound are used to estimate, for example, feelings and a health state of the user 1 [see p0071, p0181]. The Examiner understands that Saito also induces motion sickness in a user. This reference is using stimuli to induce motion sickness at different levels. It also teaches that the level of motion sickness is based on the sounds produced by the user, so that a level can be determined. Saito teaches the speech information regarding a speech of the user 1 may be read as the user state information from sound of the user 1 that is detected using the microphone 24. The speech information is, for example, data that indicates details of speech of the user 1 during viewing video content [see p0111].
It would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in Giovanardi, to include output the sound through an output device based on the determined manner of outputting the sound; and determine a state of an occupant based on input information, wherein the input information is input through an input device by the occupant and includes feedback of a motion sickness extent experienced by the occupant, as suggested and taught by Saito, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing information about a user who has a varying levels of motion sickness and their speech provides needed information about the amount of motion sickness the user is experiencing so that it can be best determined on how to help the user; having knowledge of the level of motion sickness of a person/user assists in minimizing the effect on passengers and users.
Claim 11 is similarly rejected as Claim 1, see above.
Claim 2, Giovanardi discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to generate the real behavior information of the host vehicle by filtering only a behavior in a specific frequency band, which is selected from among the second driving information [see p0409 – p0413 - When optimizing a reactive controller for a given plant (the system to control, for example a vehicle and a set of actuators and signal processing), the goal may be to reject disturbance inputs from outside sources. For example, a controller may be designed to minimize vehicle vertical body acceleration in a given frequency band. The limit to performance in this case may be the response time of the system (the actuator, the sensors, and/or the processor). A proactive controller may achieve better performance due to its ability to tolerate latency and slow response of a system].
Claim 12 is similarly rejected as Claim 2, see above.
Claim 3, Giovanardi discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to output the sound through the output device, based on the determined manner of outputting the sound, when the manner of outputting the sound is determined based on the real behavior information of the host vehicle [see Fig 39 and p0382 – p0385- teaching in the autonomous vehicle, passengers may not be given a cue about every upcoming turn but rather only for those turns that are sever enough to cause discomfort, such as for example, when taking an exit or stopping at a red light at a high speed; real behavior of the vehicle driving].
Claim 13 is similarly rejected as Claim 3, see above.
Claim 4, Giovanardi discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: determine a behavior of the front vehicle based on at least one of the first driving information, the second driving information, or any combination thereof [see p0019, p0225 – p0231, p0247, p0363, p0377, p0382-p0385 – Giovanardi discloses several ways one vehicle can communicate with another such that the lead vehicle relays real-time driving conditions to the following vehicle]; but does not specifically disclose
calculate a time point at which the host vehicle performs the behavior of the front vehicle; and generate the predicted behavior information including the time point and the behavior of the front vehicle.
However, Giovanardi does teach given computational and/or bandwidth limitations, it may be advantageous to implement a terrain-based localization method such that the comparison between observed data and reference data occurs only at predetermined intervals (e.g., time or distance intervals); in certain embodiments, in between these predetermined intervals and/or road surface locations, dead-reckoning may be used to estimate the location of the vehicle (e.g., the position of the vehicle along a road) based on the previously identified location (e.g., the previously identified position along the road). For example, in certain embodiments and as described in detail herein, a terrain-based localization method may include first collecting, as a vehicle travels along a road, data from one or more sensors attached to the vehicle. The collected data may be processed (e.g., transformed from time to distance domain, filtered, etc.) to obtain measured data (e.g., a measured road profile). The measured data may then be compared with reference data associated with the road (e.g., a reference or stored road profile) and, based at least in part on this first comparison, a position of the vehicle along the road at a first point in time may be determined [see p0181 – p0182, p0190].
It would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in Giovanardi, to include calculate a time point at which the host vehicle performs the behavior of the front vehicle; and generate the predicted behavior information including the time point and the behavior of the front vehicle, as suggested and taught, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing a road profile of a road segment the vehicle is traveling on, determining a location of the vehicle based at least partly on the road profile, and determining one or more operating parameters of one or more vehicle systems based at least partially on the location of the vehicle, therefore inputs that may be used to determine a change in location of the vehicle after the last known location of the vehicle may include, but are not limited to, inertial measurement units (IMUs), accelerometers, sensor on steering systems, wheel angle sensors, relative offsets in measured GNSS locations between different time points, and/or any other appropriate sensors and/or inputs that may be used to determine the relative movement of a vehicle on the road surface relative to a previous known location of the vehicle.
Claim 14 is similarly rejected as Claim 4, see above.
Claim 5, Giovanardi discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: generate autonomous driving information of the host vehicle based on at least one of the first driving information, the second driving information or any combination thereof [see p0019, p0225 – p0231, p0247, p0363, p0377, p0382-p0385 – Giovanardi discloses several ways one vehicle can communicate with another such that the lead vehicle relays real-time driving conditions to the following vehicle]; but does not specifically disclose
and generate the predicted behavior information of the host vehicle based on the autonomous driving information.
However, Giovanardi discloses an advanced driver assist feature or autonomous driving trajectory planning system may steer or aid the operator in steering a vehicle along a path. This safety feature commonly relies on vision-based sensor systems like forward and sideways-facing cameras, or distance- or range-based sensor systems like LiDAR or Radar, to identify lane markers and determine an appropriate path to take in order to remain within the travel lane. Further teaching, a terrain-based advanced driver assistance system, as shown and described in FIG. 1 may have advance knowledge of and/or may predict the existence of these road conditions, and may alert a driver of the vehicle 202 or an autonomous driving controller of the vehicle 202 accordingly. The terrain-based advanced driver assistance system may initiate modification of a driving speed 216, a following distance 214 behind another vehicle 204, and/or another vehicle operating parameter (e.g., initiating a four-wheel driving mode) to improve vehicle safety and/or comfort and/or durability [see at least p0225].
It would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in Giovanardi, to include and generate the predicted behavior information of the host vehicle based on the autonomous driving information, as suggested and taught, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing the ability to alert a user of road conditions ahead and possibly modify the driving behavior, such as reduce speed, distance behind another vehicle and or any other vehicle safety/comfort components.
Claim 15 is similarly rejected as Claim 5, see above.
Claim 7, Giovanardi discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to output the sound through the output device based on the determined manner of outputting the sound when the manner of outputting the sound is determined based on the predicted behavior information of the host vehicle [see p0382, Fig 39 - At block 8602, a microprocessor on-board an autonomous or a driven vehicle, travelling along a road, may receive information from, for example, a cloud-based database and/or a microprocessor associated with the cloud, that there is certain road content ahead. At block 8604, the microprocessor on-board the vehicle may also receive information about the characteristics of the upcoming road content. This information may include, for example, the type of road content, which may include, without limitation, a pothole, a frost heave, a turn, or a bump; it may be determined that at least one passenger, who may be working on a laptop, may experience discomfort, such as motion sickness, if that passenger is surprised by the upcoming left turn, at the current speed of the vehicle. Based on that determination, a cue may be given, at block 8610, to at least the one passenger who is likely to experience discomfort. After providing the cue, the vehicle may continue to traveling along the road at 8612. Alternatively, if at block 8608 it is determined that a cue is unnecessary, the vehicle may proceed to block 8612 without providing a cue].
Claim 17 is similarly rejected as Claim 7, see above.
Claim(s) 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Giovanardi (US 20250065902) in view of Saito (US 20240256042), and Nakamura (US 20220135054).
Claim 6, Giovanardi discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but is silent to wherein the processor is configured to: analyze a driving pattern of a driver, based on at least one of the first driving information, the second driving information or any combination thereof; and generate the predicted behavior information of the host vehicle based on the driving pattern of the driver.
However, Nakamura discloses a device and a method for estimating motion sickness an occupant of a vehicle. Nakamura teaches the motion sickness device 100, includes a sensory conflict amount calculating unit 10, a habituation progress state determining unit 20, a traveling situation feature extracting unit 30, a sensitivity setting unit 40, a sensory conflict amount correcting unit 50, and a motion sickness estimating unit 60. The traveling situation feature extracting unit 30 receives the vehicle information C(t) and outputs a current traveling situation pattern P(t) to the sensitivity setting unit 40. The traveling situation feature extracting unit 30 extracts a feature of the traveling situation on the basis of at least one of the motion of the occupant's head and the motion of the vehicle. A specific example is as follows. The traveling situation feature extracting unit 30 receives the vehicle information C(t), analyzes time series data of the vehicle information C(t) that has been previously input, and outputs a current traveling situation pattern P(t) to the sensitivity setting unit 40. The traveling situation pattern P(t) is classified depending on, for example, the driving skills of the driver, driving preferences (control guideline in a case of an autonomous driving vehicle), the shape of the road, the traffic condition, or the weather [see p0026- p0034, Figs 1 and 4].
It would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in Giovanardi, to include wherein the processor is configured to: analyze a driving pattern of a driver, based on at least one of the first driving information, the second driving information or any combination thereof; and generate the predicted behavior information of the host vehicle based on the driving pattern of the driver, behavior information of the host vehicle based on the autonomous driving information, as suggested and taught by Nakamura, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing an accurate estimation for a motion sickness level by determining the occupant's experience to the traveling situation.
Claim 16 is similarly rejected as Claim 6, see above.
Claim(s) 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Giovanardi (US 20250065902) in view of Saito (US 20240256042), and R.K Shekar (US 20200324073) (hereinafter referred to as Shekar)
Claim 9, Giovanardi discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but is silent to wherein the processor is configured to: determine that the manner of outputting the sound includes outputting the sound in an inaudible frequency band; and output the sound in the inaudible frequency band through the output device based on the determined manner of outputting the sound.
However, Shekar discloses an audio controller for generating a signal for alleviating motion sickness, the audio controller comprising: a sensor input module; a user control input; a processor comprising a machine learning model corresponding to a desired audio stimulation profile.
FIG. 6 shows an audio controller 600 according an embodiment for use in a vehicle. Audio controller 600 includes a sensor input module 604, a processor 680 which may be referred to as an artificial intelligence (AI) processor, a memory 608, an enable module 602, an audio input module 630, a user interface module 640, an audio processor 650, a stimulus generator 660, and a sensor input interface 672. The auditory stimuli which may be in the inaudible frequency range is provided as first input to the audio mixing adaptor 620. The audio player 662 may format the signal and provide it to the audio mixing adaptor 620. The with the auditory stimulation which is generated by the stimulus generator 660 which may typically be in the inaudible frequency range. The audio mixing adaptor 620 may adapt the received audio signal to alter the frequency spectrum of the audio signal in addition to the stimulus generation in order to remove infrasound and other frequencies that may cause nausea, headaches or dizziness in some people [see p0075, p0089, p0090].
It would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in Giovanardi, to include wherein the processor is configured to: determine that the manner of outputting the sound includes outputting the sound in an inaudible frequency band; and output the sound in the inaudible frequency band through an output device based on the determined manner of outputting the sound, as suggested and taught by Shekar, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing a frequency spectrum of the audio signal in addition to the stimulus generation in order to remove infrasound and other frequencies that may cause nausea, headaches or dizziness in some people, thus using other audio tones having certain frequencies which may be audible or inaudible and pulse rates may desensitize the vestibular system providing a therapeutic effect which may alleviate or prevent motion sickness symptoms.
Claim 19 is similarly rejected as Claim 9, see above.
Claim(s) 8, 10, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Giovanardi (US 20250065902) in view of Saito (US 20240256042), and Lev (WO 2020012458 A1).
Claim 8, Giovanardi discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but is silent to wherein the processor is configured to increase an output intensity of the sound and output the sound through the output device based on the determined manner of outputting the sound, when a gaze of the occupant is determined to be directed to inside of the host vehicle based on information about the occupant obtained from a camera.
However, Lev discloses systems and methods for predicting and preventing motion sickness. Lev teaches a controller; and a memory configured to store data used by the controller, the controller being configured to: obtain (a) information of a planned driving route of a driverless autonomous vehicle and (b) an indication of a location of the driverless autonomous vehicle on the planned driving route; and provide one or more instructions to perform one or more motion sickness prevention measures, based on the information and on the indication [see page 5, para4].
In some cases, the at least one vehicle passenger behavior model can include one or more vehicle passenger behavior models that are specific to a given person. Motion sickness prediction and prevention system can be configured to obtain second values of the vehicle passenger behavioral parameters associated with one or more given persons from one or more vehicle passenger behavioral sensors (e.g. a camera and image analysis, pressure sensors on a chair / seat of the vehicle passenger, remote sensors, Terahertz radiation sensors, lasers, eye movement sensors, radar sensors, voice analysis sensors, etc.), using data collection module 240 [see pages 38 – 39].
Lev discloses that sound cues generation system can be configured to generate one or more sound cues from different positions surrounding (in 360 degrees of direction) a given person towards the given person. In some cases, one or both of the intensity and frequency of the sound cues can be varied. For example, the intensity and/or frequency of the sound cues can be increased in accordance with an increase in a probability of a given person to get motion sickness, and/or decreased in accordance with a decrease in a probability of a given person to get motion sickness [see page 33 and sound cues generation system].
It would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in Giovanardi, to include wherein the processor is configured to increase an output intensity of the sound and output the sound through an output device based on the determined manner of outputting the sound, when a gaze of an occupant is determined to be directed to inside of the host vehicle based on information about the occupant obtained from a camera, as suggested and taught by Lev, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing operational systems to prevent the onset of motion sickness in persons, and to first predict motion sickness and perform prevention measures accordingly.
Claim 18 is similarly rejected as Claim 8, see above.
Claim 10, Giovanardi discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but is silent to wherein the processor is configured to: receive feedback of the motion sickness extent from the occupant through the input device; calculate a score of the motion sickness extent; shift the sound previously set to be in an audible frequency band to an audible frequency band when the calculated score of the motion sickness extent is determined as exceeding a reference value; increase an output intensity; determine that the manner of outputting the sound includes outputting the sound in the audible frequency band; and output the sound through the output device based on the determined manner of outputting the sound.
However, Lev discloses systems and methods for predicting and preventing motion sickness. Lev teaches a controller; and a memory configured to store data used by the controller, the controller being configured to: obtain (a) information of a planned driving route of a driverless autonomous vehicle and (b) an indication of a location of the driverless autonomous vehicle on the planned driving route; and provide one or more instructions to perform one or more motion sickness prevention measures, based on the information and on the indication [see page 5, para4].
The motion sickness prevention measures include, (a) providing at least one model indicative of a relationship between first values of one or more physiological parameters of a group of one or more persons (b) obtaining, from one or more sensors, second values of the physiological parameters, the second values being readings obtained by the sensors from one or more given persons; (c) estimating, based on the second values and on the model, a second probability of each of the given persons to get motion sickness; and (d) providing one or more instructions to perform one or more motion sickness prevention measures for at least one of the given persons upon the second probability of the at least one of the given persons exceeding a threshold to at least reduce the second probability [see at least page 6, para3].
In some cases, the motion sickness prevention measures are selected based on results of motion sickness prevention measures previously performed for the at least one of the given persons associated with the second probability exceeding the threshold. Which Examiner uses the threshold as the score or the minimum score of a person motion sickness.
Lev discloses that sound cues generation system can be configured to generate one or more sound cues from different positions surrounding (in 360 degrees of direction) a given person towards the given person. In some cases, one or both of the intensity and frequency of the sound cues can be varied. For example, the intensity and/or frequency of the sound cues can be increased in accordance with an increase in a probability of a given person to get motion sickness, and/or decreased in accordance with a decrease in a probability of a given person to get motion sickness [see page 33 and sound cues generation system].
Lev does not specifically teach shift the sound set from an inaudible frequency band to an audible frequency band when the calculated score of the motion sickness extent is determined as exceeding a reference value.
However, Lev does teach that once the reference value of a motion sickness value exceeds the threshold, Lev can eliminating one or more induction vibrations within a frequency range between 240 Hz and 260 Hz that surround at the at least one passenger; generating one or more sound cues from different positions surrounding the at least one passenger towards the at least one passenger; stopping the driverless autonomous vehicle; slowing down the driverless autonomous vehicle; limiting the driverless autonomous vehicle’s accelerations in at least one axis of movement [see pages 3 – 4].
Additionally, Lev discloses in some cases, one or both of the intensity and frequency of the sound cues can be varied. It seem apparent that if the sound cues can vary in intensity and frequency, that they levels can be inaudible as well.
It would have been obvious before the effective date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device in Giovanardi, to include wherein the processor is configured to: receive feedback of a motion sickness extent from an occupant through an input device; calculate a score of the motion sickness extent; shift the sound set from an inaudible frequency band to an audible frequency band when the calculated score of the motion sickness extent is determined as exceeding a reference value; increase an output intensity; determine that the manner of outputting the sound includes outputting the sound in the audible frequency band; and output the sound through an output device based on the determined manner of outputting the sound, as suggested and taught by Lev, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing operational systems to prevent the onset of motion sickness in persons, and to first predict motion sickness and perform prevention measures accordingly.
Claim 20 is similarly rejected as Claim 10, see above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to all claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RENEE MARIE LAROSE whose telephone number is (313)446-4856. The examiner can normally be reached M- F 8:30 am - 5 pm.
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/Renee LaRose/ Examiner, Art Unit 3657 /ABBY LIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3657