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 Arguments
Applicant's arguments and amendments received October 29, 2025 have been fully considered. with regard to 35 U.S.C. § 102, Applicant argues that the cited prior art does not disclose “see applicant argument pages 11-14”. This language corresponds to claims 1-27, specifically corresponds to the independent claims.
As such, these have been considered but they are not persuasive as addressed below. See the rejection how the art on record reads on the claimed invention as well as the examiner's interpretation of the cited art in view of the presented claim set as outlined below. Furthermore, in response to applicant argument, applicant states Oami fails to explicitly teach the claimed invention “when a situation where the ratio is less than a predetermined threshold value is continuing for a predetermined set time, execute control for changing the stimulus currently outputted by the output device to a different stimulus”.
In response, the examiner respectfully disagrees. The system of Oami teaches implicitly or explicitly “when a situation where the ratio is less than a predetermined threshold value is continuing for a predetermined set time, execute control for changing the stimulus currently outputted by the output device to a different stimulus”. Oami teaches:
[0150] The information acquisition unit 14 acquires a plurality of different pieces of guidance information on the basis of the degrees of influence of the respective peripheral areas which are determined by the determination unit 18. The information acquisition unit 14 generates guidance information for suppressing the increase in the number of people moving from the peripheral area with a high degree of influence to the central area, for the peripheral area with a high degree of influence. For example, in a case where the information acquisition unit 14 detects the central area the degree of crowdedness of which exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the information acquisition unit generates guidance information for preventing people from moving toward the central area with respect to the peripheral area with a high degree of influence and a high degree of crowdedness, among peripheral areas of the central area. In this case, the information acquisition unit 14 may generate guidance information for guiding to another area other than the central area.
[0056] The positional relationship includes a distance, directivity, a required moving time, and the like. The information acquisition unit 14 can acquire the positional relationship from the storage unit 13. The information acquisition unit 14 can also calculate a positional relationship from information indicating monitored places stored in the storage unit 13 and information indicating monitored places. For example, the distance may be stored in advance. The average moving time may be stored in the storage unit 13 in advance, or may be calculated using a moving speed of a crowd which is acquired by the analysis unit 12.
[0114] The storage unit 13 stores histories of the degree of crowdedness in the goal area and the flow rate in the midway area that are acquired by the analysis unit 12. Further, as the positional relationship between the display space and the monitored place, the storage unit 13 stores the distance between each display space and the goal area, or stores the time required for a person to move from each display space to the goal area.
[0115] The prediction unit 17 acquires a predicted degree of crowdedness of people in a goal area at any point in time on the basis of the degree of crowdedness in the goal area and the flow rate in the midway area which are acquired by the analysis unit 12. It is considered that the flow rate in the midway area obtained from the surveillance image captured at a certain time T describes the number of people reaching the goal area after the required time (ΔT) for moving from the midway area to the goal area. Thereby, the prediction unit 17 can acquire a predicted degree of crowdedness in the goal area at any point in time, for example, as follows. The prediction unit 17 learns a correlation between the degree of crowdedness in the goal area obtained from the surveillance image captured at a time (T+ΔT) and the flow rate in the midway area obtained from the surveillance image captured at a time T, on the basis of history data stored in the storage unit 13. The prediction unit 17 generates a function f(t) for predicting the degree of crowdedness in the goal area at any time t as the predicted degree of crowdedness on the basis of the learning.
[0130] As described above, in the second exemplary embodiment, the predicted degree of crowdedness in the goal area at any point in time is acquired from the history of the degree of crowdedness in the goal area acquired from the surveillance images and the history of the flow rate of the midway area acquired from the surveillance images. The predicted degree of crowdedness in the goal area in each display space is acquired on the basis of the predicted degree of crowdedness at any point in time and the time required for a person to move from each display area to the goal area. The predicted degree of crowdedness in the goal area acquired with respect to the display space is displayed on each of the display devices 6.
As such, the examiner stands with the rejection since Oami predicting or determined the movement of crowded based on timely stored history.
Applicant argument in regarding the claimed invention “calculate a ratio of the people who moved in the first direction by using the moving people count”, the examiner stands with the rejection as outlined above in addition to the cited paras. The system of Oami clearly anticipated the claimed invention by the analysis unit 12 acquires the number of people, density, the degree of crowdedness, a moving speed, a moving direction, a flow rate.
Applicant argument in regarding newly added limitation to claims, see the newly cited para. 0131 of Oami as outlined below.
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.
Claims 1-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oami et al. US 2022/0351522.
In regarding to claim 1 Oami teaches:
1. A control device for controlling an output device that outputs a stimulus, the control device comprising: acquiring circuitry to acquire a video obtained by an image capturing device by capturing images of a plurality of people existed in a place where movement in a plurality of directions is possible;
Oami, 0043, 0054-0055
and controlling circuitry to detect a moving people count as a number of people who moved in a first direction among the plurality of directions based on the video,
[0049] The analysis unit 12 acquires the state of a crowd within a surveillance image using results of the above-described detection of people with respect to the surveillance image. The analysis unit 12 can acquires the number of people, density, the degree of crowdedness, a moving speed, a moving direction, a flow rate, the presence or absence of a queue, the length of a queue, a waiting time of a queue, a speed at which a queue advances, the presence or absence of staying, a staying time, the number of staying people, the degree of dissatisfaction, an abnormal state, and the like, as the state of the crowd. The density is a value obtained by dividing the number of people by the largeness of the place imaged in the surveillance image. The degree of crowdedness is an index value indicating the degree of crowdedness of people being in a monitored place, and may be indicated by a value obtained by calculation using at least one of the number of people, the density, and both the number of people and the density. For example, the analysis unit 12 can estimate the number of people within a surveillance image using a crowd patch with a high level of accuracy.
Oami, 0049, 0113, 0145-0147, emphasis added
calculate a ratio of the people who moved in the first direction by using the moving people count,
[0049] The analysis unit 12 acquires the state of a crowd within a surveillance image using results of the above-described detection of people with respect to the surveillance image. The analysis unit 12 can acquires the number of people, density, the degree of crowdedness, a moving speed, a moving direction, a flow rate, the presence or absence of a queue, the length of a queue, a waiting time of a queue, a speed at which a queue advances, the presence or absence of staying, a staying time, the number of staying people, the degree of dissatisfaction, an abnormal state, and the like, as the state of the crowd. The density is a value obtained by dividing the number of people by the largeness of the place imaged in the surveillance image. The degree of crowdedness is an index value indicating the degree of crowdedness of people being in a monitored place, and may be indicated by a value obtained by calculation using at least one of the number of people, the density, and both the number of people and the density. For example, the analysis unit 12 can estimate the number of people within a surveillance image using a crowd patch with a high level of accuracy.
Oami, 0049, 0113, 0145-0147, emphasis added
and when a situation where the ratio is less than a predetermined threshold value is continuing for a predetermined set time, execute control for changing the stimulus currently outputted by the output device to a different stimulus.
[0059] In the first exemplary embodiment, since guidance information is displayed by the display device 6, the guidance information is information indicating a guidance destination, information for promoting suspension, information indicating crowdedness conditions, and the like. Since a presentation of crowdedness conditions makes people avoid going to a place with a high degree of crowdedness, information indicating the crowdedness conditions may be handled as guidance information. As long as the guidance information is of capable of moving or suspending people as intended by the guidance system 1, the contents thereof are not limited. For example, the information capable of suspending people may include information for arousing interest to make people desire to stay in the place, such as music, a video, or information regarding an on-sale store. In addition, a time-limited discount coupon capable of being used in a specific store may also be an example of guidance information capable of making people stay in the specific store. It is preferable that pieces of guidance information having different contents are included in a plurality of pieces of guidance information generated by the information acquisition unit 14.
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147, emphasis added
In regarding to claim 2 Oami teaches:
2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring circuitry acquires management information that indicates a correspondence relationship between the currently outputted stimulus and a dissimilar stimulus having a same attribute as the currently outputted stimulus and dissimilar to the currently outputted stimulus, and the controlling circuitry identifies the dissimilar stimulus based on the currently outputted stimulus and the management information and executes control for changing the currently outputted stimulus to the dissimilar stimulus.
Oami, 0196, 0201
In regarding to claim 3 Oami teaches:
3. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring circuitry acquires threshold value information, the controlling circuitry identifies a user attribute as an attribute of a person included in the video based on the video and identifies a threshold value corresponding to the user attribute based on the threshold value information, and the predetermined threshold value is the identified threshold value.
Oami,, 0150, 0159
In regarding to claim 4 Oami teaches:
4. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the output device is a display device, the controlling circuitry executes control for changing content currently outputted by the display device to different content.
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147
In regarding to claim 5 Oami teaches:
5. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the output device is a speaker, the controlling circuitry executes control for changing sound currently outputted by the speaker to different sound.
Oami, 0196
In regarding to claim 6 Oami teaches:
6. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the output device is an air conditioner, the controlling circuitry executes at least one of control for changing a direction of air currently outputted by the air conditioner to a different direction and control for changing wind power of the air conditioner.
Oami, 0194, 0198
In regarding to claim 7 Oami teaches:
7. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the output device is a smell generator, the controlling circuitry executes control for changing a smell currently outputted by the smell generator to a different smell.
Oami, 0194, 0199
In regarding to claim 8 Oami teaches:
8. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the output device is a projector, the controlling circuitry executes control for changing information currently outputted by the projector to different information.
In regarding to claim 9 Oami teaches:
9. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the output device is an illuminator, the controlling circuitry executes control for changing illuminance, illumination color or an illumination angle of light currently outputted by the illuminator.
Oami, 0195, 0197
In regarding to claim 10 Oami teaches:
10. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the output device is a display device or a projector, the control device further comprises the display device or the projector.
Oami, 0059-0060
In regarding to claim 11 Oami teaches:
11. A control device for controlling an output device that outputs a stimulus, the control device comprising: acquiring circuitry to acquire an image or a video obtained by an image capturing device by capturing one or more images of a plurality of people and acquire management information that indicates a correspondence relationship between a currently outputted stimulus and a dissimilar stimulus;
Oami, 0049, 0196, 0201
and controlling circuitry to calculate a visual recognition rate regarding the information currently outputted by the output device based on the image or the video, when the visual recognition rate is lower than a predetermined threshold value,
Oami, 0049, 0113, 0145-0147
identify the dissimilar stimulus based on the currently outputted stimulus and the management information and execute control for changing the currently outputted stimulus to the dissimilar stimulus,
Oami, 0049, 0196, 0201
wherein the visual recognition rate is calculated based on a number of the plurality of people viewing the information currently outputted by the output device.
Oami, 0049, 0196, 0201, 0131
In regarding to claim 12 Oami teaches:
12. The control device according to claim 11, wherein the acquiring circuitry acquires threshold value information, the controlling circuitry identifies a user attribute as an attribute of a person included in the image or the video based on the image or the video and identifies a threshold value corresponding to the user attribute based on the threshold value information, and the predetermined threshold value is the identified threshold value.
Oami, 0049, 0113, 0145-0147
In regarding to claim 13 Oami teaches:
13. The control device according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of people are existed in a place where movement in a plurality of directions is possible, and when the visual recognition rate based on the video is lower than the threshold value, the controlling circuitry detects a moving people count as a number of people who moved in a first direction among the plurality of directions based on the video, calculates a ratio of the people who moved in the first direction by using the moving people count, and when the ratio is less than a predetermined threshold value, executes control for changing the currently outputted stimulus to the dissimilar stimulus.
Oami, 0049, 0113, 0145-0147, 0196, 0201
In regarding to claim 14 Oami teaches:
14. The control device according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of people are existed in a place where movement in a plurality of directions is possible, and when the visual recognition rate based on the video is higher than or equal to the threshold value, the controlling circuitry detects a moving people count as a number of people who moved in a first direction among the plurality of directions based on the video, calculates a ratio of the people who moved in the first direction by using the moving people count, and when the ratio is less than a predetermined threshold value, executes control for changing the currently outputted stimulus to the dissimilar stimulus.
Oami, 0049, 0113, 0145-0147, 0196, 0201
Claims 15-19 list all similar elements of claims 1, 5, 6-7 and 9. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claims 1, 5, 6-7 and 9 applies equally as well to claims 15-19. Furthermore, Oami teaches when the visual recognition rate is lower than a predetermined threshold value, execute control for changing the stimulus currently outputted by the output device to a different stimulus without changing the information displayed by the display device.
Oami, 0196, 0201, 0131
Claim 20 list all similar elements of claim 1, but in system form rather than device form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 20.
In regarding to claim 21 Oami teaches:
21. A control system comprising: a first image capturing device that is installed at a first spot and transmits an image or a video obtained by capturing one or more images of a plurality of people;
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
a first output device that is installed at the first spot; a second output device that is installed at a second spot as a spot after the first spot; a control device that manages information to be outputted by the first output device;
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
and a second image capturing device that is installed at the second spot and transmits an image or a video obtained by capturing one or more images of a plurality of people,
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
wherein the control device calculates a first visual recognition rate regarding information currently outputted by the first output device based on the image or the video received from the first image capturing device,
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
calculates a second visual recognition rate regarding information currently outputted by the second output device based on the image or the video received from the second image capturing device,
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
and when the first visual recognition rate and the second visual recognition rate are lower than a predetermined threshold value, executes control for making the second output device output information different from the information currently outputted by the first output device,
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
the first and second visual recognition rates are calculated based on a number of the plurality of people viewing the information current]y outputted by the respective first and second output devices.
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0131, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
In regarding to claim 22 Oami teaches:
22. A control system comprising: a first image capturing device that is installed at a first spot and transmits an image or a video obtained by capturing one or more images of a plurality of people;
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
a first output device that is installed at the first spot; a first control device that manages information to be outputted by the first output device;
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
a second output device that is installed at a second spot as a spot after the first spot;
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
and a second control device, wherein the first control device calculates a first visual recognition rate regarding information currently outputted by the first output device based on the image or the video received from the first image capturing device,
wherein the first visual recognition rate is calculated based on a number of the plurality of people viewing the information currently outputted by the first output device,
and when the first visual recognition rate is lower than a predetermined threshold value, notifies the second control device that the first visual recognition rate is lower than the threshold value, when the first visual recognition rate is lower than the threshold value, the second control device transmits a transmission request, requesting transmission of the information currently outputted by the first output device, to the first control device, the first control device receiving the transmission request transmits the information currently outputted by the first output device to the second control device,
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0131, 0145-0147 and at least Figs. 2
and the second control device receiving the information currently outputted by the first output device executes control for making the second output device output information different from the information currently outputted by the first output device.
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147, 0196, 0201 and at least Figs. 2
In regarding to claim 23 Oami teaches:
23. The control system according to claim 22, further comprising a second image capturing device that is installed at the second spot, wherein the second control device calculates a second visual recognition rate regarding information currently outputted by the second output device based on an image or a video received from the second image capturing device, and when the first visual recognition rate and the second visual recognition rate are lower than the threshold value, transmits the transmission request to the first control device.
Oami, 0049, 0059-0060, 0113, 0145-0147, and at least Figs. 2
Claim 24 list all similar elements of claim 1, but in method form rather than device form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 24.
Claim 25 list all similar elements of claim 1. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 25. Furthermore, Oami teaches when the visual recognition rate is lower than a predetermined threshold value, execute control for changing the stimulus currently outputted by the output device to a different stimulus without changing the information displayed by the display device.
Oami, 0196, 0201
Claim 26 list all similar elements of claim 1. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 26.
Claim 27 list all similar elements of claim 1. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 27. Furthermore, Oami teaches when the visual recognition rate is lower than a predetermined threshold value, execute control for changing the stimulus currently outputted by the output device to a different stimulus without changing the information displayed by the display device.
Oami, 0196, 0131, 0201
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 DANIEL T TEKLE whose telephone number is (571)270-1117. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-4:30 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Vaughn can be reached at 571-272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL T TEKLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481
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