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 .
Response to Amendment
1 This action is in response to the amendment filed on 05/18/2026. Claims 1, 8, and 9 have been amended. Claims 1-6, 8-9, and 12-23 remain rejected.
Response to Arguments
2 Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 8, and 9 filed on 05/18/2026, with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103 regarding that the prior art does not teach the following but not limited to “…wherein vector values comprise a zero force value at positions associated with a surface of the object to be rendered…wherein particles at the positions associated with the surface of the object to be rendered are acted upon by the zero force value, causing resolving a shape of the object in the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment compared to the image frame at the t-th moment.”. This argument has been considered, but are moot due to new grounds of rejection.
3 Regarding claims 2-6, and 12-23, they directly/indirectly depend on independent claims 1 and 8 respectively. Applicant does not argue anything other than independent claims 1, 8, and 9. The limitations in those claims, in conjunction with combination, was mostly previously established as explained, with modifications surrounding changes of the independent claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
5 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.
6 Claim(s) 1-3, 4, 6, 8-9, 12-13, 16-17, 19-21, and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN 112270732 A) in view of O’ Brien (US 9177419 B2) and Hu et al. (US 20190304180 A1).
7 Regarding claim 1, Zhang teaches a particle effect rendering method, comprising:
obtaining an object to be rendered via one or more particles ([Page 7; Lines 46-48] reciting “The target particles may include multiple target particles, and multiple target particles may form a particle system, which can simulate a variety of dynamic visual animations by controlling the motion of the target particles in the particle system. For example, realizing dynamic simulation of 3D flame animation”; [Page 9; Lines 38-39] reciting “Obtain the historical position information of the target particle on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame and determine the motion state of the target particle.”);
generating, based on the object to be rendered, a force field corresponding to the object to be rendered, wherein the force field comprises one or more positions, and a vector value corresponding to a position of the one or more positions is used to indicate a force applied to a particle of the one or more particles when the particle is at the position ([Page 7; Lines 46-48] reciting “The target particles may include multiple target particles, and multiple target particles may form a particle system, which can simulate a variety of dynamic visual animations by controlling the motion of the target particles in the particle system. For example, realizing dynamic simulation of 3D flame animation”; [Page 9; Lines 41, 43-44, 48-51] reciting “Apply a simulated force field to the target particle…Determine the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame according to the frame duration, the simulated force field, the historical position information and the motion state… In other words, the determining module 12 can be used to obtain the historical position information of the target particles on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame, determine the motion state of the target particles, and apply a simulated force field to the target particles. , Simulation force field, historical position information and motion state determine the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame.”);
based on a of the force field, obtaining, according to a vector value corresponding to a first position of a particle in the force field in an image frame at a t-th moment, a second position of the particle in the force field in an image frame at a (t+1)-th moment, wherein t is a non-negative integer ([Page 9, Lines 43-44; Page 10, Lines 14-17] reciting “Determine the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame according to the frame duration, the simulated force field, the historical position information and the motion state… Understandably, if there is no simulated force field, the motion state of the target particle will remain unchanged, and the target particle will remain stationary or continue to move in a certain direction. Therefore, to change the motion state, a simulated force field must be applied to the target particle. , So that the movement state of the target particle changes.”), ; and
rendering and generating, according to the second position of the particle in the force field in the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment, the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment, so as to obtain a particle effect rendering result of the object to be rendered according to image frames corresponding to respective moments in a preset time period ([Page 5; Lines 20-24] reciting “The movement of particles attached to the surface of the 3D model can simulate various dynamic visual effects. For example, attaching a large number of particles to the surface of a sphere can show the simulation effect of flame burning animation. In related technologies, in order for particles to simulate various dynamic effects, it is necessary to determine the position of each frame of the particle during the movement of the surface of the three-dimensional model, and then render the movement position of each frame.” [Page 11; Lines 19-23] reciting “For example, in some scenes, the target particles need to move on the surface of the human body model to generate a dynamic flame animation on the surface of the human body. After the processor 20 adds centripetal force to the target particles, add them to different target particles. Different curling noises are used to control the movement of target particles, thereby generating animations of dynamic flames on the surface of the human body model.”),
8 Zhang does not explicitly teach based on a 3D texture map of the force field, obtaining, according to a vector value corresponding to a first position of a particle… wherein vector values comprise a zero force value at positions associated with a surface of the object to be rendered; … wherein particles at the positions associated with the surface of the object to be rendered are acted upon by the zero force value, causing resolving a shape of the object in the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment compared to the image frame at the t-th moment.
9 O’ Brien teaches based on a 3D texture map of the force field, obtaining, according to a vector value corresponding to a first position of a particle ([Abstract] reciting “The simulation application retrieves a first texture element from a set of uv texture maps, and attaches a first displacement value to the mesh point based on the first texture element…such that the first displacement value remains attached to the mesh point as the plurality of mesh points moves in response to a motion of the fluid.”; [Page 14; Column 11, Lines 9-20] reciting “The surface characteristic 540 is associated with a secondary property of the fluid surface, such as surface foam or bubbles below the surface. The surface characteristic 540 may be modeled via advection of UV texture maps, as described above. Alternatively, the surface characteristic 540 may be modeled via particle simulation. During particles simulation, particles collect in regions where foam would form. Results from the particle simulation may be written to an output file. The output file may then be accessed by a rendering application that places the particles on the post-displaced fluid surface resulting from the advection process, as described above.”; [Page 14; Column 12, Lines 50-53] reciting “The surface of the fluid flow is modeled by attaching two UV texture maps to a mesh defining the displacement of the fluid surface. The first UV map is advected along the surface of the fluid as the fluid flows during the simulation.”)…
10 It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method (taught by Zhang) to incorporate the teachings of O’ Brien to provide a 3d texture map (or a UV texture map) for the objects that are taught by Zhang, while also utilizing a type of motion that can be similar to the surface motion taught by Zhang ([Page 4; Lines 5-6] reciting “Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the calculation of the surface motion of the particle 3D model by the calculation engine in the related technology.”). Doing so would achieve a more realistic appearance as stated by O’ Brien ([Page 13; Column 9, Lines 18-23] recited).
11 Zhang in view of O’ Brien does not explicitly teach wherein vector values comprise a zero force value at positions associated with a surface of the object to be rendered; … wherein particles at the positions associated with the surface of the object to be rendered are acted upon by the zero force value, causing resolving a shape of the object in the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment compared to the image frame at the t-th moment.
12 Hu teaches wherein vector values comprise a zero force value at positions associated with a surface of the object to be rendered ([0132] reciting “Secondly, before updating the acceleration, the total force of one surface particle is mapped into the tangential direction of the geometry surface so that the normal force is zero”); … wherein particles at the positions associated with the surface of the object to be rendered are acted upon by the zero force value, causing resolving a shape of the object in the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment compared to the image frame at the t-th moment ([0126] reciting “We propose a friction model supposing that the skin friction coefficient is infinite throughout the computational domain. Thus, all the particle kinetic energies will be damped to zero after each physical time step. Technically, the particle velocity is reset to zero right after updating the particle coordinates.”; [0127] reciting “When the particle distribution is not regularized leading to particle neighbor jump, all regular bell-shaped kernel functions are inferior with respect to the force computation.”; [0132] reciting “Secondly, before updating the acceleration, the total force of one surface particle is mapped into the tangential direction of the geometry surface so that the normal force is zero”; [0186] reciting “In FIG. 14, the comparison of generated meshes with different adaptation strength demonstrates the high reliability and performance of the method.”).
13 It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method (taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien) to incorporate the teachings of Hu to provide a method that contains a type of zero force value at the specific positions causing resolving a shape of an object of various frame coordinates, utilizing the frames from images and the neighboring moments taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien. Doing so would allow the distribution of the particles on the model until it reaches a final position as stated by Hu ([Abstract] recited).
14 Regarding claim 2, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 1 (see claim 1 rejection above), wherein the obtaining, according to a vector value corresponding to a first position of a particle in the force field in an image frame at a t-th moment, a second position of the particle in the force field in an image frame at a (t+1)-th moment comprises: obtaining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the vector value corresponding to the first position of the particle; and obtaining the second position of the particle in the force field in the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment according to the force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position (Zhang; [Page 9; Lines 43-44] reciting “Determine the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame according to the frame duration, the simulated force field, the historical position information and the motion state.”; [Page 9; Lines 24-28] reciting “Specifically, after determining the motion state of the target particle in the previous frame, if a simulated force field is added, the velocity and velocity of the target particle after the force field is applied are calculated according to the simulated force field and the motion state of the target particle in the previous frame The direction is calculated according to the speed, direction, frame duration and position information of the previous frame to obtain the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame.”).
15 Regarding claim 3, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 2 (see claims 1-2 rejections above), wherein the obtaining the second position of the particle in the force field in the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment according to the force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position comprises: obtaining a and an initial velocity of the particle at the first position; obtaining an acceleration of the particle at the first position according to the force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position and the ; and obtaining the second position of the particle in the force field in the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment according to the initial velocity of the particle at the first position, the acceleration of the particle at the first position, and a time difference between the image frame at the (t+1)-th moment and the image frame at the t-th moment (Zhang; [Page 9; Lines 24-28] reciting “Specifically, after determining the motion state of the target particle in the previous frame, if a simulated force field is added, the velocity and velocity of the target particle after the force field is applied are calculated according to the simulated force field and the motion state of the target particle in the previous frame The direction is calculated according to the speed, direction, frame duration and position information of the previous frame to obtain the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame.”; [Page 6; Lines 51-54] reciting “It can be understood that according to the laws of physics, if there is no external interference during the movement of the target particle, the position of the target particle at any time (each frame) can be calculated based on the movement state and position of the previous time (previous frame).”).
16 Hu from claim 1 can further teach the limitations, specifically obtaining a mass of the particle and an initial velocity of the particle at the first position; obtaining an acceleration of the particle at the first position according to the force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position and the mass of the particle ([0072] reciting “With the target mesh density function, the total mass involved in a volumetric domain for mesh generation can be obtained by the integral…”; [0079] reciting “In order to constrain the particles on surface or edge singularities, they only interact with their neighboring particles on the singularity. When implementing Eq. (17), their resulting accelerations are projected onto the tangential direction along the singularity, and their positions are projected onto the singularity.”; [0134] reciting “Considering that the total mass M.sub.p involved in the positive-phase computational domain can be calculated by the integral Eq. (2.14) and each particle features the same unity mass, the total particle quantity N.sub.p=M.sub.p necessary to fill the positive-phase domain is derived immediately as mass is conservative during the particle evolution.”; [0225] reciting “Hereafter, all particles are assumed to possess the same mass m=1 in order to facilitate further derivation. In general, the particle density is calculated from the summation over all neighboring particles algebraically”).
17 It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method (taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu) to incorporate additional teachings of Hu to provide a type of mass for the specific particles to help with velocity taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu. Doing so would allow the distribution of the particles on the model until it reaches a final position as stated by Hu ([Abstract] recited).
18 Regarding claim 4, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 1 (see claim 1 rejection above), wherein the force field comprises a vector field (Zhang; [Page 10; Lines 4-8] reciting “It should be noted that the force field is a vector field, in which the vector related to each point can be measured by a force, which is a very important basic concept in physics. Common force fields include gravitational field, magnetic field (magnetic field for short), electric field (electric field for short), etc. Therefore, it is understandable that the simulated force field is the force formed by simulating the force field that exists naturally in the image rendering process.”).
19 Regarding claim 6, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 1, wherein the generating, based on the object to be rendered, a force field corresponding to the object to be rendered comprises: obtaining a three-dimensional mesh model corresponding to the object to be rendered; and generating the force field corresponding to the object to be rendered based on the three-dimensional mesh model (Zhang; [Page 9; Lines 38-39] reciting “Obtain the historical position information of the target particle on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame and determine the motion state of the target particle.”; [Page 9; Lines 48-51] reciting “In other words, the determining module 12 can be used to obtain the historical position information of the target particles on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame, determine the motion state of the target particles, and apply a simulated force field to the target particles. , Simulation force field, historical position information and motion state determine the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame.”).
20 Claims 8-9 has similar limitations as of claim 1, therefore they are rejected under the same rationale as claim 1.
21 Regarding claim 12, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 2 (see claims 1-2 rejections above), wherein the force field comprises a vector field (Zhang; [Page 10; Lines 4-8] reciting “It should be noted that the force field is a vector field, in which the vector related to each point can be measured by a force, which is a very important basic concept in physics. Common force fields include gravitational field, magnetic field (magnetic field for short), electric field (electric field for short), etc. Therefore, it is understandable that the simulated force field is the force formed by simulating the force field that exists naturally in the image rendering process.”).
22 Regarding claim 13, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 3 (see claims 1-3 rejections above), wherein the force field comprises a vector field (Zhang; [Page 10; Lines 4-8] reciting “It should be noted that the force field is a vector field, in which the vector related to each point can be measured by a force, which is a very important basic concept in physics. Common force fields include gravitational field, magnetic field (magnetic field for short), electric field (electric field for short), etc. Therefore, it is understandable that the simulated force field is the force formed by simulating the force field that exists naturally in the image rendering process.”).
23 Regarding claim 16, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 2 (see claims 1-2 rejections above), wherein the generating, based on the object to be rendered, a force field corresponding to the object to be rendered comprises: obtaining a three-dimensional mesh model corresponding to the object to be rendered; and generating the force field corresponding to the object to be rendered based on the three-dimensional mesh model (Zhang; [Page 9; Lines 38-39] reciting “Obtain the historical position information of the target particle on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame and determine the motion state of the target particle.”; [Page 9; Lines 48-51] reciting “In other words, the determining module 12 can be used to obtain the historical position information of the target particles on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame, determine the motion state of the target particles, and apply a simulated force field to the target particles. , Simulation force field, historical position information and motion state determine the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame.”).
24 Regarding claim 17, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 3 (see claims 1-3 rejections above), wherein the generating, based on the object to be rendered, a force field corresponding to the object to be rendered comprises: obtaining a three-dimensional mesh model corresponding to the object to be rendered; and generating the force field corresponding to the object to be rendered based on the three-dimensional mesh model (Zhang; [Page 9; Lines 38-39] reciting “Obtain the historical position information of the target particle on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame and determine the motion state of the target particle.”; [Page 9; Lines 48-51] reciting “In other words, the determining module 12 can be used to obtain the historical position information of the target particles on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame, determine the motion state of the target particles, and apply a simulated force field to the target particles. , Simulation force field, historical position information and motion state determine the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame.”).
25 Claim 19 has similar limitations as of claim 2, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 2.
26 Claim 20 has similar limitations as of claim 3, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 3.
27 Claim 21 has similar limitations as of claim 4, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 4.
28 Claim 23 has similar limitations as of claim 6, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 6.
29 Claim(s) 5, 14-15, 18, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN 112270732 A) in view of O’ Brien (US 9177419 B2) and Hu et al. (US 20190304180 A1) as of claim 1, further in view of Li et al. (US 20240062449 A1) and Lo et al. (US 20190139309 A1).
30 Regarding claim 5, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 1 (see claim 1 rejection above), and although could teach wherein the force field comprises a signed distance field (Tu; [0088] reciting “The level-set method is employed to describe the geometry surface. The geometry surface can be represented by the zero isocontour of a signed-distance function…”), prior art from Li can teach the limitation further. Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu does not explicitly teach the signed distance field comprises a shortest distance between each of the one or more positions and a surface of the object to be rendered; the particle effect rendering method further comprises: determining a shortest distance between the first position and the surface of the object to be rendered; and determining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the shortest distance and the vector value corresponding to the first position.
31 Li teaches wherein the force field comprises a signed distance field, and the signed distance field comprises a shortest distance between each of the one or more positions and a surface of the object to be rendered; the particle effect rendering method further comprises: determining a shortest distance between the first position and the surface of the object to be rendered ([0038] reciting “Signed Distance Field (SDF): given a position point in any space, the closest distance of this position point from a scene object is returned, if the position point is outside the object, a positive value is returned, and if the position point is inside the object, a negative value is returned.”; [0055] reciting “In an embodiment, when the virtual marching ray is emitted forward from the current scene shading point, it may advance step by step according to the marching length, and the marching length depends on the shortest distance of a position where the virtual marching ray is currently located from the scene, that is, signed-distance-field information of the position where the virtual marching ray is currently located.”);…
32 It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method (taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu) to incorporate the teachings of Li to provide a clearer indication of a signed distance field, as well as the shortest distance based on the various positions provided by Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu. Doing so would allow to determine color information of a scene intersection point as stated by Li ([Abstract] recited).
33 Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, and Li does not explicitly teach determining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the shortest distance and the vector value corresponding to the first position.
34 Lo teaches determining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the shortest distance and the vector value corresponding to the first position ([Claim 32] reciting “…determine a shortest distance from the location of each sensor input within the volume to the location of the core; determine a force vector along each distance; apply the force vectors to the virtual element; render the one or more images of the virtual element in response to the applied force vectors; and cause the one or more displays to project light corresponding to the rendered images of the virtual element that is perceived by the user as his or her interaction with the virtual element.”).
35 It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method (taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, and Li) to incorporate the teachings of Lo to provide a method to determine types of force for an element while using the methods to find the shortest distance provided by Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, and Li. Doing so would facilitate interactions between a user of the display system and a virtual element presented by the display system as stated by Lo ([Claim 32] recited).
36 Regarding claim 14, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 2 (see claims 1-2 rejections above), and although could teach wherein the force field comprises a signed distance field (Tu; [0088] reciting “The level-set method is employed to describe the geometry surface. The geometry surface can be represented by the zero isocontour of a signed-distance function…”), prior art from Li can teach the limitation further. Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu does not explicitly teach the signed distance field comprises a shortest distance between each of the one or more positions and a surface of the object to be rendered; the particle effect rendering method further comprises: determining a shortest distance between the first position and the surface of the object to be rendered; and determining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the shortest distance and the vector value corresponding to the first position.
37 Li teaches wherein the force field comprises a signed distance field, and the signed distance field comprises a shortest distance between each of the one or more positions and a surface of the object to be rendered; the particle effect rendering method further comprises: determining a shortest distance between the first position and the surface of the object to be rendered ([0038] reciting “Signed Distance Field (SDF): given a position point in any space, the closest distance of this position point from a scene object is returned, if the position point is outside the object, a positive value is returned, and if the position point is inside the object, a negative value is returned.”; [0055] reciting “In an embodiment, when the virtual marching ray is emitted forward from the current scene shading point, it may advance step by step according to the marching length, and the marching length depends on the shortest distance of a position where the virtual marching ray is currently located from the scene, that is, signed-distance-field information of the position where the virtual marching ray is currently located.”);…
38 It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method (taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu) to incorporate the teachings of Li to provide a clearer indication of a signed distance field, as well as the shortest distance based on the various positions provided by Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu. Doing so would allow to determine color information of a scene intersection point as stated by Li ([Abstract] recited).
39 Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, and Li does not explicitly teach determining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the shortest distance and the vector value corresponding to the first position.
40 Lo teaches determining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the shortest distance and the vector value corresponding to the first position ([Claim 32] reciting “…determine a shortest distance from the location of each sensor input within the volume to the location of the core; determine a force vector along each distance; apply the force vectors to the virtual element; render the one or more images of the virtual element in response to the applied force vectors; and cause the one or more displays to project light corresponding to the rendered images of the virtual element that is perceived by the user as his or her interaction with the virtual element.”).
41 It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method (taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, and Li) to incorporate the teachings of Lo to provide a method to determine types of force for an element while using the methods to find the shortest distance provided by Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, and Li. Doing so would facilitate interactions between a user of the display system and a virtual element presented by the display system as stated by Lo ([Claim 32] recited).
42 Regarding claim 15, Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 3 (see claims 1-3 rejections above), and although could teach wherein the force field comprises a signed distance field (Tu; [0088] reciting “The level-set method is employed to describe the geometry surface. The geometry surface can be represented by the zero isocontour of a signed-distance function…”), prior art from Li can teach the limitation further. Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu does not explicitly teach the signed distance field comprises a shortest distance between each of the one or more positions and a surface of the object to be rendered; the particle effect rendering method further comprises: determining a shortest distance between the first position and the surface of the object to be rendered; and determining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the shortest distance and the vector value corresponding to the first position.
43 Li teaches wherein the force field comprises a signed distance field, and the signed distance field comprises a shortest distance between each of the one or more positions and a surface of the object to be rendered; the particle effect rendering method further comprises: determining a shortest distance between the first position and the surface of the object to be rendered ([0038] reciting “Signed Distance Field (SDF): given a position point in any space, the closest distance of this position point from a scene object is returned, if the position point is outside the object, a positive value is returned, and if the position point is inside the object, a negative value is returned.”; [0055] reciting “In an embodiment, when the virtual marching ray is emitted forward from the current scene shading point, it may advance step by step according to the marching length, and the marching length depends on the shortest distance of a position where the virtual marching ray is currently located from the scene, that is, signed-distance-field information of the position where the virtual marching ray is currently located.”);…
44 It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method (taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu) to incorporate the teachings of Li to provide a clearer indication of a signed distance field, as well as the shortest distance based on the various positions provided by Zhang in view of O’ Brien and Hu. Doing so would allow to determine color information of a scene intersection point as stated by Li ([Abstract] recited).
45 Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, and Li does not explicitly teach determining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the shortest distance and the vector value corresponding to the first position.
46 Lo teaches determining a force applied to the particle when the particle is at the first position according to the shortest distance and the vector value corresponding to the first position ([Claim 32] reciting “…determine a shortest distance from the location of each sensor input within the volume to the location of the core; determine a force vector along each distance; apply the force vectors to the virtual element; render the one or more images of the virtual element in response to the applied force vectors; and cause the one or more displays to project light corresponding to the rendered images of the virtual element that is perceived by the user as his or her interaction with the virtual element.”).
47 It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method (taught by Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, and Li) to incorporate the teachings of Lo to provide a method to determine types of force for an element while using the methods to find the shortest distance provided by Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, and Li. Doing so would facilitate interactions between a user of the display system and a virtual element presented by the display system as stated by Lo ([Claim 32] recited).
48 Regarding claim 18, Zhang in view of O’ Brien, Hu, Li, and Lo teaches the particle effect rendering method according to claim 5 (see claims 1-2 and 5 rejections above), wherein the generating, based on the object to be rendered, a force field corresponding to the object to be rendered comprises: obtaining a three-dimensional mesh model corresponding to the object to be rendered; and generating the force field corresponding to the object to be rendered based on the three- dimensional mesh model (Zhang; [Page 9; Lines 38-39] reciting “Obtain the historical position information of the target particle on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame and determine the motion state of the target particle.”; [Page 8; Lines 48-51] reciting “In other words, the determining module 12 can be used to obtain the historical position information of the target particles on the surface of the three-dimensional model in the previous frame, determine the motion state of the target particles, and apply a simulated force field to the target particles. , Simulation force field, historical position information and motion state determine the estimated position of the target particle in the current frame.”).
49 Claim 22 has similar limitations as of claim 5, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 5.
Conclusion
50 The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Tillman et al. (US 20070174028 A1) teaches types of mass found in particles as well as various teachings surrounding density and velocity.
51 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.
52 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHNNY TRAN LE whose telephone number is (571)272-5680. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu: 7:30am-5pm; First Fridays Off; Second Fridays: 7:30am-4pm.
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, Kent Chang can be reached at (571) 272-7667. 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.
/JOHNNY T LE/ Examiner, Art Unit 2614
/KENT W CHANG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2614
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