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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Itkowitz (US 2006/0109266 A1)
1. Itkowitz discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium having recorded thereon a program to be executed in a computer device having a vibration mechanism for generating vibration or in a computer device connected to a vibration device having the vibration mechanism in a wireless or wired manner, the program, when executed, causing the computer device to perform [0031], (Fig. 4A-4B):
calculating a movement vector indicating a movement direction of a moving object or a user's operation point when the moving object or the user's operation point moves on at least one surface of a virtual object (calculates proxy motion vector representing movement direction of haptic interface point (user's operation point) on virtual surfaces and tracks movement of haptic proxy over virtual object surfaces), [0078]-[0079], [0094]; and
generating vibration information for controlling an operation of the vibration mechanism, based on a normal vector of the at least one surface located on a movement path of the moving object or the user’s operation point and the movement vector, when the moving object or the user’s operation point moves along the movement path (generates haptic feedback (including vibrations) based on surface normals and proxy motion vector and uses combination of contact normal and normalized motion vector to compute force/vibration along path, wherein vibration waveforms simulated for texture effects during movement), [0012], [0029], [0078]-[0079], [0094].
2. Itkowitz discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 1, wherein the program further causes the computer device to perform referring to a normal map corresponding to the virtual object to acquire the normal vector of the at least one surface (normal maps in graphics pipeline to acquire surface normals for haptic rendering, wherein normal maps are stored in fat framebuffers used to derive normals), [0021], [0060], [0105].
3. Itkowitz discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 1, wherein generating the vibration information includes generating the vibration information based on an inner product of the normal vector and the movement vector (haptic forces/vibrations based on dot products (inner products) involving normals and motion vectors in force shading, wherein inner products are used in calculations for texture modulation along movement), [0012]-[0013], [0014], [0019], [0021], [0060], [0065].
4. Itkowitz discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 3, wherein the vibration information includes a vibration waveform created based on a waveform obtained by arranging the inner products in chronological order (vibration waveforms generated from sequential (chronological) computations of inner products during proxy movement, simulating texture variations over time), [0012]-[0013], [0014], [0019], [0021], [0060], [0065].
5. Itkowitz discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 1, wherein the program further causes the computer device to perform correcting the vibration information based on at least one of material information of the virtual object, material information of the moving object, velocity information of the moving object or the user’s operation point, or acceleration information of the moving object or the user’s operation point (corrects haptic output based on material properties (e.g., stiffness, friction), velocity of proxy, and acceleration), [0013], [0019], [0060].
6. Itkowitz discloses a computer device that includes a vibration mechanism for generating vibration or that is wirelessly or wiredly connected to a vibration device having the vibration mechanism, the computer device configured to: calculate a movement vector indicating a movement direction of a moving object or a user's operation point when the moving object or the user's operation point moves on at least one surface of a virtual object; and generate vibration information for controlling an operation of the vibration mechanism, based on a normal vector of the at least one surface located on a movement path of the moving object or the user’s operation point and the movement vector, when the moving object or the user’s operation point moves along the movement path as similarly discussed above.
7. Itkowitz discloses a method to be executed in a computer device having a vibration mechanism for generating vibration or in a computer device wirelessly or wiredly connected to a vibration device having the vibration mechanism, the method comprising: calculating a movement vector indicating a movement direction of a moving object or a user's operation point when the moving object or the user's operation point moves on at least one surface of a virtual object; and generating vibration information for controlling an operation of the vibration mechanism, based on a normal vector of the at least one surface located on a movement path of the moving object or the user’s operation point and the movement vector, when the moving object or the user’s operation point moves along the movement path as similarly discussed above.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see attached USPTO form PTO-892.
Filing of New or Amended Claims
The examiner has the initial burden of presenting evidence or reasoning to explain why persons skilled in the art would not recognize in the original disclosure a description of the invention defined by the claims. See Wertheim, 541 F.2d at 263, 191 USPQ at 97 (“[T]he PTO has the initial burden of presenting evidence or reasons why persons skilled in the art would not recognize in the disclosure a description of the invention defined by the claims.”). However, when filing an amendment an applicant should show support in the original disclosure for new or amended claims. See MPEP § 714.02 and § 2163.06 (“Applicant should specifically point out the support for any amendments made to the disclosure.”). Please see MPEP 2163 (II) 3. (b)
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SENG H LIM whose telephone number is (571)270-3301. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (9-5).
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, David L. Lewis can be reached at (571) 272-7673. 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.
/Seng H Lim/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715