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 .
1. This communication in response to application filed 08/27/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted was filed after the filing date of the instant application on March 05, 2004. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 7, 9 -11 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dublon et al. (PAT # 12,543,015 B2).
Regarding claims 1 and 9, Dublon teaches an audio effect adjustment method and apparatus (reads on the processor-based device configured to perform the recited method step, for example wearable playback device as discussed in example 72, see col. 89, lines 1-25), adaptable for a processor implementation, the audio effect adjustment method comprising:
determining a sound source direction corresponding to sound characteristics of a sound signal, wherein the sound characteristics are related to at least one of an amplitude and a phase of the sound signal, and the sound signal is recorded from a sound source located in the sound source direction (reads on determining times-of-arrival of the localization signal at the microphones, determining pairwise angles-of-arrival, determining an ensemble angle-of-arrival to the buffer 1156b-1 (FIG. 11C), which represents estimated user gaze directions, see col. 64, lines 9-61);
determining posture changes of a head, wherein the posture changes include a rotation angle of the head from a first orientation to a second orientation, and the head is used for wearing a sound playing apparatus (reads on determining head tracking data... rotate incoming IMU samples... estimating orientation of the headphone and head position, see col. 64, line 62 through col. 65, lines 8 and col. 68, lines 22-50); and
adjusting the sound characteristics of the sound signal according to a direction difference between the sound source direction and the second orientation, wherein the direction difference is an angle between the sound source direction and the modified second orientation, the modified second orientation is an orientation after the posture changes from the sound source direction, and the adjusted sound signal is used to be played by the sound playing apparatus (reads on rendering binaural-rendered audio, rendering according to the user’s current head position, rotate the audio, first directions of center indication orientations of the headphone and rotations facilitate the impression of the rendered audio coming from direction, see, col. 65, lines 9-28 and col. 70, lines 21-35).
Regarding claims 2 and 10, Dublon teaches wherein the sound characteristics include a frequency response, the frequency response is a corresponding amplitude of the sound signal at a plurality of frequencies, and the step of adjusting the sound characteristics of the sound signal according to the direction difference between the sound source direction and the second orientation (reads on amplitude of captured audio 847 (e.g., from the example measurements described in connection with FIG. 7) is plotted over time. The captured audio 847 includes direct sound 847a, early reflections 847b, and late reverberation 847c. The late reverberation 847c is also referred to as the “long tail” given its relatively long duration compared to the early reflections 847b, as illustrated in FIG. 8A. FIG. 8B also illustrates the captured audio 847, albeit zoomed in on the sub 100 ms portion to better illustrate transitions between segments, see FIG 8A, FIG. 8B and FIG 8E) comprises:
adjusting the frequency response of the sound signal by a first parameter of an equalizer (reads on linear-phase finite impulse response (FIR) filters, see col. 29, line 60 through col. 30, line 10), wherein the sound source direction corresponds to a second parameter of the equalizer (reads on determining pairwise angles-of-arrival, see col. 64, lines 9-61), the modified second orientation corresponds to a third parameter of the equalizer (reads on orientation of the headphone device ...relative to the HT primary, see col. 68, lines 22-41), the first parameter, the second parameter, the third parameter have corresponding gains at the plurality of frequencies (reads on gain adjustment on pre-subband basis, see col. 38, line 53 through col. 39, line 10), and the first parameter is a gain difference between the second parameter and the third parameter at the plurality of frequencies (reads on gain adjustment determined from the difference between the target MTE and reference MTE on a per-sub band basis, see col. 38, line 53 through col. 39, line 10).
Regarding claims 3 and 11, Dublon teaches wherein the sound characteristics comprise a signal delay, the signal delay is a time difference between sound signals of two channels, and the step of adjusting the sound characteristics of the sound signal according to the direction difference between the sound source direction and the second orientation (time-difference of arrival between each pair of microphones see col. 64, lines 9-61) comprises:
adjusting the signal delay of the sound signals of the two channels to a modified delay (reads on determining pairwise angles-of-arrival, determining an ensemble angle-of-arrival to the buffer 1156b-1 (FIG. 11C), which represents estimated user gaze directions, see col. 64, lines 9-61), the modified delay is a difference between a first delay and a second delay (reads on measuring differences in time-of-flight of audio signals, see col. 68, lines 22-41), the sound source direction corresponds to the first delay (reads on determining pairwise angles-of-arrival... ensemble angle-of-arrival to the buffer 1156b-1 (FIG. 11C), see col. 64, lines 9-61), and the modified second orientation corresponds to the second delay (reads on orientation of the headphone device ...relative to the HT primary, see col. 68, lines 22-41).
Regarding claims 7 and 15, Dublon teaches
transferring the sound signals of two channels to a surround sound field with a plurality of virtual speakers (reads on binaural rendering 990 via the speakers 918, see col. 56, lines 22-36);
adjusting a frequency response and a phase from a plurality of directions corresponding to the plurality of virtual speakers based on a head related transfer functions (HRTF) theory (see col. 35, lines 24-35); and
transferring the adjusted sound signal back to stereo sound field signals of the two channels (reads on binaural-rendered audio ... playback, see col. 6, line 47 through col. 7, line 4 and col. 56, lines 22-36).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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) 4-6 and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dublon et al. (US PAT # 12,543,015 B2) in view of Mahmud et al. (Pub.No.: 2025/0060782 A1).
Claims 4 and 12 recite “wherein the step of determining the sound source direction corresponding to the sound characteristics of the sound signal comprises:
determining, by inputting the sound characteristics of the sound signal to a direction identification model, the sound source direction by the direction identification model, wherein the direction identification model is trained through a machine learning algorithm to learn an association between a reference sound source located in a plurality of reference directions and corresponding sound characteristics”.
Dublon features already addressed in the above rejection. Dublon does not specifically teach “machine learning model/trained model”. However, Mahmud teaches in “WEARABLE DEVICES WITH WIRELESS TRANSMITTER-RECEIVER PAIRS FOR ACOUSTIC SENSING OF USER CHARACTERISTICS” data processing computing device 1920 applies a deep learning model to the constructed profile (see [0238]) where the system utilizes machine learning and signal processing algorithms that focus on temporal and structural differences in activities from these reflected acoustic signals, rather than individual body shapes, for usability to minimize user effort for training (see [0653]).
Thus, it would have been obvious for one of an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Mahmud’s machine learning processing into the system of Dublon to improve detection accuracy of user characteristics.
Claims 5 and 13 recite “wherein the step of determining the posture changes of the head comprises:
identifying the posture changes according to a plurality of head images, wherein the plurality of head images are images captured by rotating the head from the first orientation to the second orientation”.
Dublon features already addressed in the above rejection. Dublon does not specifically teach “facial image/facial feature-based processing”. However, Mahmud teaches in “WEARABLE DEVICES WITH WIRELESS TRANSMITTER-RECEIVER PAIRS FOR ACOUSTIC SENSING OF USER CHARACTERISTICS” detection of “’facial expressions” and movements of the “face”, see ([0246] and [0648]).
Thus, it would have been obvious for one of an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize Mahmud’s facial-based processing with the acoustic sensing system of Dublon to enable recognition of user facial characteristics.
Claims 6 and 14 recite “wherein the step of identifying the posture changes according to the plurality of head images comprises:
identifying a face of the head image;
defining a feature point of the face; and
tracking a position of the feature point of the plurality of head images, wherein the posture changes are reflected in changes in the position of the feature point”.
Dublon features already addressed in the above rejection. Dublon does not specifically teach “identifying a face of the head image; defining a feature point of the face; and tracking a position of the feature point of the plurality of head images, wherein the posture changes are reflected in changes in the position of the feature point”.
However, Mahmud teaches in “WEARABLE DEVICES WITH WIRELESS TRANSMITTER-RECEIVER PAIRS FOR ACOUSTIC SENSING OF USER CHARACTERISTICS” a “facial landmark positions” and “key feature points or landmarks from frontal view digital images” (see [0144]) and further teaches processing of “facial digital images” (see [0149]).
Thus, it would have been obvious for one of an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Mahmud’s facial feature point extraction and tracking into the system of Dublon to enable determination of posture changes based on facial feature movement.
Claim(s) 8 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dublon et al. (US PAT # 12,543,015 B2) in view of Janke et al. (Pub.No.: 2006/0271215 A1)
Claims 8 and 16 recite “wherein the step of adjusting the sound characteristics of the sound signal according to the direction difference between the sound source direction and the second orientation comprises:
decreasing a parameter of the sound signal of a right channel at the first frequency in response to an increase in a parameter of the sound signal of a left channel at the first frequency, and increasing a parameter of the sound signal of the right channel at the second frequency in response to a decrease in a parameter of the sound signal of the left channel at the second frequency; or
decreasing a parameter of the sound signal of the left channel at the third frequency in response to an increase in a parameter of the sound signal of the right channel at the third frequency, and increasing a parameter of the sound signal of the left channel at the fourth frequency in response to a decrease in a parameter of the sound signal of the right channel at the fourth frequency”.
Dublon features already addressed in the above rejection. Dublon does not specifically teach “decreasing a parameter of the sound signal of a right channel at the first frequency in response to an increase in a parameter of the sound signal of a left channel at the first frequency, and increasing a parameter of the sound signal of the right channel at the second frequency in response to a decrease in a parameter of the sound signal of the left channel at the second frequency” as recited in claims 8 and 16.
However, Janke teaches a multi-channel audio system in which a “frequency responses of the various channels are summed together” to produce a common frequency response (see [0043]-[0045]).
Thus, it would have been obvious for one of an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the primary reference to adjust the frequency characteristics of the channels to achieve a common frequency response as taught by Janke, in order to improve audio consistency and overall sound quality across channels.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Rasha S. AL-Aubaidi whose telephone number is (571) 272-7481. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Ahmad Matar, can be reached on (571) 272-7488.
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/RASHA S AL AUBAIDI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693
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