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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 2, 4-7, 11, 12 and 14-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Miyazaya et al. (US 20140300636 A1; hereafter Miyazaya).
Regarding claim 11, Miyazaya discloses an apparatus (10 in Figs. 5 and 6, [0040], [0042]) comprising:
control circuitry (150); and
at least one memory (155, 160; [0057], [0058]) including computer program code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the control circuitry, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:
determine a first location and an orientation (location and orientation of the user in Fig. 1);
determine an estimated augmented reality view ([0003], [0004]) using the first location and the orientation (Fig. 2);
determine whether a UI element is within the estimated augmented reality view (inherently performed in order to perform the claimed step immediately below; see also the differences between Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, [0074]); and
in response to determining that the UI element is not within the estimated
augmented reality view (“…of the information associated with a position outside the visual field is detected…” in [0037]):
determine a position of the UI element (e.g., to user’s right side as shown in Fig. 3); and
play an audio cue (represented as Ms in Fig. 1, [0034]) indicating the position of the UI element using audio spatialization ([0036], [0079], [0082]).
Regarding claim 12, Miyazaya discloses that the apparatus also uses two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional mapping when determining that the UI element is not within the estimated augmented reality view (Fig. 1-3).
Regarding claim 14, Miyazaya shows the orientation of an audio output device (see the device worn by the user in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 15, Miyazaya discloses that the apparatus is further caused to:
receive a preference indicating a category of UI elements (“according to the reference, the purpose, or the like of the user” in [0034]); and
determine whether the UI element is within the category of UI elements (by filtering based on user preference, see [0034], [0035]), wherein
determining whether UI element is within the estimated augmented reality view is in response to determining that the UI element is within the category of UI elements (inherently performed, the view as shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3 is the result of determination).
Regarding claim 16, Miyazaya shows that the apparatus is further caused, when playing the audio cue indicating the position of the UI element using audio spatialization, to determine a direction from the first location to the UI element and use the audio spatialization and the direction to indicate the position of the UI element ([0036], [0056], [0072]).
Regarding claim 17, Miyazaya shows that the apparatus is further caused, when playing the audio cue indicating the position of the UI element using audio spatialization, to calculate a distance from the first location to the UI element and use the audio spatialization and the distance to indicate the position of the UI element (“…to generate localization information based on the distance between a user position and a virtual position.” in [0054]).
Claims 1, 2 and 4-7 correspond to claims 11, 12 and 14-17 discussed above.
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) 3, 9, 13 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miyazaya.
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Miyazaya fails to explicitly show the claimed headphone. Miyazaya teaches general headphone for providing spatial audio that matches the virtual object position ([0039], [0052]). One skilled in the art would have expected that any specific type of headphone could be used without generating any unexpected result. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Miyazaya by using a well known headphone with a well known design because it is considered as a matter of user preference.
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Miyazaya fails to show audio cues including one or more words. Examiner takes Official Notice that this feature is notoriously well known in the art. Instead of providing general sound effect (such as???), audio cue could include one or more words that would provide a more direct verbal instruction for the user. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Miyazaya by including verbal instruction for the user in order to provide clearer instruction for the user when sound effect, such as bells, is not sufficient.
Claim(s) 8, 10 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miyazaya as applied to claims 1, 9 and 18 above, and further in view of Leary et al. (US 20200410406 A1; hereafter Leary).
Regarding claims 8, 10 and 19, Miyazaya fails to show a second estimated augmented reality view for a second location and a path from the first location to a second location. Miyazaya teaches that when UI is not within the current user’s field of view, a visual marker (Mv) and a sound marker (Ms) are provided to user who would recognize where the UI is located (e.g., to the right of the user as shown in Fig. 3). The visual marker and the sound marker are general indicators that would provide a general orientation of the UI position relative to the user. Leary also teaches a head mounted device worn by the user ([0044]). Once the user has determined the final destination, a preview of the route could be presented to user’s device using AR ([0026], [0049]). The preview path could include alerts, such as obstacle, or traffic ([0093]). This feature would have prepared the user before walking over to the final destination. By providing a AR view corresponding to the location of the UI element would help a visually sensitive user to recognize the close proximity area of the UI element and/or the actual UI element. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Miyazaya in view of Leary by providing a preview of the route and the location of the final destination of the UI element in AR view in order to help the user to reach the final destination in a more prepared state of mind.
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/PING LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695
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