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
This action is in response to the amendment filed on August 20, 2026 (8/20/2026).
Claims 9 and 12-17 are currently pending.
Claims 9 and 12-16 have been amended.
Claims 10-11 have been canceled.
Claim 17 was newly added.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 9 and 12-17 have been considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejection does not rely on the combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument as necessitated by the amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 9, 12-14, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jones et al. (US 2016/0370863) in view of Hilger et al. (DE 102019001386).
Regarding Claim 9, Jones teaches executing, on a first mobile terminal, a program emitting control signals to actuate a haptic feedback actuator of the first mobile terminal, (Fig. 1C, See 110 and 114 “Information” and Par. [0032] “For example, a mobile computing device 110 (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch, fitness tracker, wearable device) can run one or more applications 112 that are programmed to provide information 114 that can be used by the haptic device 108 to provide non-visual information to the user 104”),
and communicating, by the first mobile terminal directly or via a second mobile terminal, with a computer unit of the vehicle the emitted control signals to the computer unit; (Fig. 1C, and Par. [0040] “For example, the haptic arrays 168a-b and 170a-b can be embedded within and/or affixed to the seat back 164 and/or the seat base 166, and can be activated by the haptic control device 172 based on information from one or more sources, such as the mobile computing device 110 providing the information 114 via one or more applications 122 (as described above), a computer device/system 116 transmitting the information 120 via a wireless antennae 118, and/or a vehicle computer system 174 that can provide information 176 that is relevant to a vehicle in which the seat 162 is installed”).
Jones, however, does not explicitly teach wherein the program emits the control signals depending on instructions for performing breathing exercises individually adapted to the different occupants in the vehicle; and controlling, by the computer unit of the vehicle, at least one actuator arranged in the vehicle for each of the different occupants of the vehicle to generate haptic feedback depending on the emitted control signals received by the first mobile terminal; and generating, by each of the at least one actuators for each of the different occupants in the vehicle, the haptic feedback so that each of the different occupants in the vehicle performs individual breathing exercises.
In the same field of endeavor, Hilger teaches wherein the program emits the control signals depending on instructions for performing breathing exercises individually adapted to the different occupants in the vehicle; (Pg. 2 “An additional display, for example by means of an optical and / or acoustic signal, can be dispensed with, whereupon the breathing can be adapted by means of active action by the respective vehicle occupant” and Pg. 3 “When evaluating by means of the control device, in particular by means of at least one self-learning intelligent algorithm of an artificial intelligence and / or learning systems, that point in time is calculated at which the vehicle occupant, i.e. a driver and / or at least one passenger, requires activation or regeneration. Individual activation or regeneration can be recommended to the vehicle occupant by means of a display unit of the motor vehicle, for example an infotainment unit” and Pg. 3 “Here it is determined, for example, that the vehicle occupant is to be activated or regenerated. Then in a third process step S3 the vehicle occupant is assisted in breathing, the particular condition being taken into account by a corresponding control of the massage device of the seat”),
and controlling, by the computer unit of the vehicle, at least one actuator arranged in the vehicle for each of the different occupants of the vehicle to generate haptic feedback depending on the emitted control signals received by the first mobile terminal; (Pg. 3 “When evaluating by means of the control device, in particular by means of at least one self-learning intelligent algorithm of an artificial intelligence and / or learning systems, that point in time is calculated at which the vehicle occupant, i.e. a driver and / or at least one passenger, requires activation or regeneration” and Pg. 3 “Here it is determined, for example, that the vehicle occupant is to be activated or regenerated. Then in a third process step S3 the vehicle occupant is assisted in breathing, the particular condition being taken into account by a corresponding control of the massage device of the seat. The activation of the massage device can be output to the vehicle occupant in advance by means of at least one, for example optical and / or acoustic and / or haptic signal”),
and generating, by each of the at least one actuators for each of the different occupants in the vehicle, the haptic feedback so that each of the different occupants in the vehicle performs individual breathing exercises. (Pg. 3 “When evaluating by means of the control device, in particular by means of at least one self-learning intelligent algorithm of an artificial intelligence and / or learning systems, that point in time is calculated at which the vehicle occupant, i.e. a driver and / or at least one passenger, requires activation or regeneration” and Pg. 3 “The activation of the massage device can be output to the vehicle occupant in advance by means of at least one, for example optical and / or acoustic and / or haptic signal”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Hilger’s massage device assisting in both driver and passenger breathing with Jones’s mobile terminal and haptic feedback actuator to improve individual vehicle occupant relaxation and wellbeing.
Regarding Claim 12, Jones in view of Hilger teaches the invention of Claim 9, where Jones further teaches wherein a modulation of the haptic feedback generated by the at least one actuator in the vehicle for each of the different occupants in the vehicle is adjusted compared to haptic feedback output by the first mobile terminal based on the emitted control signals (Par. [0055] “The haptic engine 308 can translate the information from the CPU 306 into a haptic language that may be different from the information itself. For instance, the haptic engine 308 can provide information using a variety of haptic variables, such as intensity of the haptic feedback (e.g., intensity of the vibrations), durations of the haptic feedback (e.g., length of time the vibrations are being continuously provided), intervals between haptic feedback (e.g., length of time between vibrations), and/or particular sequences of portions of the haptic array 304 that are activated. The haptic engine 308 can determine these haptic variables when providing haptic information using the array 304 based on a variety of factors, such as the current speed with which the device 302 is travelling, a current wind speed, current levels of vibrations in the users body (e.g., stationary with low vibrations, travelling on bus with high levels of ambient vibrations), locations of the haptic motors in the array 304 on a user's body, and/or other appropriate factors”).
Regarding Claim 13, Jones in view of Hilger teaches the invention of Claim 9, where Jones further teaches wherein, in addition to the haptic feedback generated by the at least one actuator in the vehicle for each of the different occupants in the vehicle, information depending on a context of the emitted control signals is depicted visually in the vehicle on a display of the vehicle (Par. [0096] “To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input”).
Regarding Claim 14, Jones in view of Hilger teaches the invention of Claim 13, where Jones teaches wherein one of the different occupants in the vehicle sets a manner of how the haptic feedback is generated in the vehicle (Par. [0066] “The haptic engine 308 can also maintain and update a user profile 326 that is used to determine particular types of haptic feedback that should be provided to the user of the device 302 in various instances. For example, the haptic engine 308 can monitor whether the user is appropriately receiving and responding to haptic action instructions provided over the array 304 by monitoring whether the user performed the instructed action (e.g., whether the user turned right after receiving a haptic instruction to turn right). If the user performed the instructed action, information regarding the haptic variables (e.g., intensity of pulse, duration of pulse, timing of providing the pulse relative to when the action should be performed) that were used to provide the instruction given the current context for the user (e.g., speed, type of location) can be stored in the user profile 326 and used to provide haptic instructions under similar circumstances in the future”).
Regarding Claim 16, Jones teaches a vehicle (Par. [0040] “Referring to FIG. 1C, an example system 160 is depicted in which haptic arrays 168a-b and 170a-b included in a seat 162 with a back support 164 and a seat base 166 are activated by a haptic control device 172 to provide haptic feedback to a user sitting in the seat 162. The seat 162 can be, for example, a seat in a vehicle, such as a car, truck, airplane, boat, and/or other vehicle”)
comprising: a computer unit; (Par. [0069] “The system 300 may, in some implementations, additionally include one or more wired interfaces 330 that can be connected to a computer system 332, such as a vehicle computer system that can provide information”),
at least one actuator, coupled to the computer unit, (Fig. 1C, See 172 “Haptic Device”),
and a communication interface coupled to the computer unit, wherein the computer unit is configured to receive, from a first mobile terminal via the communication interface, emitted control signals, (Par. [0040] “Referring to FIG. 1C, an example system 160 is depicted in which haptic arrays 168a-b and 170a-b included in a seat 162 with a back support 164 and a seat base 166 are activated by a haptic control device 172 to provide haptic feedback to a user sitting in the seat 162. The seat 162 can be, for example, a seat in a vehicle, such as a car, truck, airplane, boat, and/or other vehicle. For example, the haptic arrays 168a-b and 170a-b can be embedded within and/or affixed to the seat back 164 and/or the seat base 166, and can be activated by the haptic control device 172 based on information from one or more sources, such as the mobile computing device 110 providing the information 114 via one or more applications 122 (as described above)”),
wherein the emitted control signals are generated by a program executed on the first mobile terminal to actuate a haptic feedback actuator of the first mobile terminal, (Par. [0032] “For example, a mobile computing device 110 (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch, fitness tracker, wearable device) can run one or more applications 112 that are programmed to provide information 114 that can be used by the haptic device 108 to provide non-visual information to the user 104”),
and wherein the computer unit receives the emitted control signals either directly from the first mobile terminal or via a second mobile terminal, (Par. [0040] “For example, the haptic arrays 168a-b and 170a-b can be embedded within and/or affixed to the seat back 164 and/or the seat base 166, and can be activated by the haptic control device 172 based on information from one or more sources, such as the mobile computing device 110 providing the information 114 via one or more applications 122 (as described above), a computer device/system 116 transmitting the information 120 via a wireless antennae 118, and/or a vehicle computer system 174 that can provide information 176 that is relevant to a vehicle in which the seat 162 is installed”).
Jones, however, does not explicitly teach at least one actuator, coupled to the computer unit, for each of different occupants of the vehicle; wherein the program emits the control signals depending on instructions for performing breathing exercises individually adapted to the different occupants in the vehicle, and wherein the computer unit is configured to control the at least one actuator for each of the different occupants of the vehicle to generate haptic feedback depending on the emitted control signals received from the first mobile terminal so that each of the different occupants in the vehicle performs individual breathing exercises.
In the same field of endeavor, Hilger teaches at least one actuator, coupled to the computer unit, for each of different occupants of the vehicle; (Pg. 3 “When evaluating by means of the control device, in particular by means of at least one self-learning intelligent algorithm of an artificial intelligence and / or learning systems, that point in time is calculated at which the vehicle occupant, i.e. a driver and / or at least one passenger, requires activation or regeneration” and Pg. 3 “The activation of the massage device can be output to the vehicle occupant in advance by means of at least one, for example optical and / or acoustic and / or haptic signal”),
wherein the program emits the control signals depending on instructions for performing breathing exercises individually adapted to the different occupants in the vehicle, (Pg. 2 “An additional display, for example by means of an optical and / or acoustic signal, can be dispensed with, whereupon the breathing can be adapted by means of active action by the respective vehicle occupant” and Pg. 3 “When evaluating by means of the control device, in particular by means of at least one self-learning intelligent algorithm of an artificial intelligence and / or learning systems, that point in time is calculated at which the vehicle occupant, i.e. a driver and / or at least one passenger, requires activation or regeneration. Individual activation or regeneration can be recommended to the vehicle occupant by means of a display unit of the motor vehicle, for example an infotainment unit” and Pg. 3 “Here it is determined, for example, that the vehicle occupant is to be activated or regenerated. Then in a third process step S3 the vehicle occupant is assisted in breathing, the particular condition being taken into account by a corresponding control of the massage device of the seat”),
and wherein the computer unit is configured to control the at least one actuator for each of the different occupants of the vehicle to generate haptic feedback depending on the emitted control signals received from the first mobile terminal so that each of the different occupants in the vehicle performs individual breathing exercises (Pg. 3 “When evaluating by means of the control device, in particular by means of at least one self-learning intelligent algorithm of an artificial intelligence and / or learning systems, that point in time is calculated at which the vehicle occupant, i.e. a driver and / or at least one passenger, requires activation or regeneration” and Pg. 3 “Here it is determined, for example, that the vehicle occupant is to be activated or regenerated. Then in a third process step S3 the vehicle occupant is assisted in breathing, the particular condition being taken into account by a corresponding control of the massage device of the seat. The activation of the massage device can be output to the vehicle occupant in advance by means of at least one, for example optical and / or acoustic and / or haptic signal” and Pg. 3 “The activation of the massage device can be output to the vehicle occupant in advance by means of at least one, for example optical and / or acoustic and / or haptic signal”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Hilger’s massage device assisting in both driver and passenger breathing with Jones’s vehicle, mobile terminal, and haptic feedback actuator to improve individual vehicle occupant relaxation and wellbeing.
Regarding Claim 17, Jones in view of Hilger teaches the invention of Claim 13, where Jones further teaches wherein one of the different occupants in the vehicle sets how the information is depicted visually in the vehicle (Par. [0054] “The rules engine 324 can include various rules for prioritizing haptic information to provide to the user. The rules can be generated and/or refined based on a variety of sources, such as user input (e.g., user defined rules/settings) and/or other computing devices (e.g., the mobile device 320, a remote computer system)” and Par. [0096] “To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer”).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jones et al. (US 2016/0370863) in view of Hilger et al. (DE 102019001386) in further view of Yasushi et al. (JP 2020/021146).
Regarding Claim 15, Jones in view of Hilger teaches the invention of Claim 9, but does not explicitly teach wherein when the computer unit of the vehicle receives the emitted control signals from the first mobile terminal, the computer unit outputs a request for inputting an affirmative operating action to one of the different occupants in the vehicle and emits the haptic feedback in the vehicle only when the one of the different occupants in the vehicle inputs the affirmative operating action.
In the same field of endeavor, Yasushi teaches wherein when the computer unit of the vehicle receives the emitted control signals from the first mobile terminal, the computer unit outputs a request for inputting an affirmative operating action to one of the different occupants in the vehicle (Fig. 3B, Par. [0039] “the control unit 24 performs a display urging the driver to use the vibration generator VB. For example, the switching area SR is displayed as “refresh” in a black character color on an orange background color, for example”),
and emits the haptic feedback in the vehicle only when the one of the different occupants in the vehicle inputs the affirmative operating action (Par. [0046] “When the driver inputs a start instruction to start the vibration of the vibration generator VB from the display input device DS, the start instruction is transmitted from the display input device DS”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Yasushi’s affirmation message and activation with Hilger’s massage device assisting in both driver and passenger breathing and Jones’s mobile terminal and haptic feedback actuator to improve the experience a vehicle occupant has while driving.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Terauchi et al. (JP 2019/161446) discloses a vibration device within a steering wheel or car seat.
Modarres et al. (US 2016/0107570) discloses determining haptic feedback to be generated based on a received input
Levesque et al. (US 2018/0027520) discloses a haptic feedback seat that allows for Wi-Fi connection and communication within a network.
Winther et al. (US 2022/0212679) discloses an in-vehicle display that provides breathing exercise instructions to assist driver relaxation.
Prinz et al. (WO 2016/070981) discloses providing a vehicle occupant guided breathing exercises to assist in health and relaxation.
Moller et al. (DE 102019216246) discloses employing therapeutic measures including breathing exercises for a vehicle occupant to assist in wellbeing.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new grounds 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 JOSEPH NGHIA DINH whose telephone number is (571)272-7982. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri. 7:30AM-5PM.
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/J.N.D./Examiner, Art Unit 2641
/CHARLES N APPIAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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