DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 7-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Regarding claim 7 which recites “wherein the controller comprises an approaching determiner which is an algorithm configured to determine the dog's approach based on data of the proximity sensor.” which is not disclosed by specification as originally filed. Regarding claims 8-26 which are dependent upon claim 7 are rejected for the same reasons as applied to claim 7 above.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: Regarding claim 9, line 2 which recites “…a camera…” should be corrected to “…the camera…”. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1, 2 and 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717).
Regarding claim 1, Choi teaches an interactive display system for a dog comprising: a display module (13; Fig 1) configured to display an image (para [0064] The display 13 displays an image based on a processed video signal on a screen thereof.); a sensor (14; Fig 3) comprising at least one of a camera (para [0065] The sensor 14 may obtain information about a human or a companion animal, and may include a video capturer 141, an audio receiver 142, etc. The video capturer 141 maybe an image sensor for capturing an image in a frontward direction of the display apparatus 1 and obtaining image information about a human or a companion animal from the captured image. The video capturer 141 may be realized by a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or charge coupled device (CCD) camera.), a microphone, a proximity sensor, or a shock sensor configured to sense a condition of the dog (para [0065]); and a controller (Fig 3) comprising a processor (18; Fig 3) and a memory (17; Fig 3) storing instructions that, when executed by the processor (para [0072]; para [0073]), enable the controller to: determine at least one of (i) whether the dog is approaching the display module within a predetermined distance (para [0079] Here, the object information may include the shape, motion, sound, or other information relating to the dog 21. Fig 2). (ii) whether the dog is viewing the displayed image (para [0049] The display apparatus 1 may be realized by a television (TV) capable of outputting content. However, the display apparatus 1 is not limited to the TV, but may be realized by various electronic apparatuses capable of outputting multimedia content involving at least one of video content, audio content, a text or a picture, for example, para [0054] Thus, the dedicated content is displayed with the image quality value corresponding to the visual characteristics of the target viewer, so that a human or a companion animal can easily and stably view each individual dedicated content through one display apparatus 1.), and (iii) an emotional state of the dog (para [0104] For example, in the case of displaying the dog-dedicated content 33, the processor 18 may obtain the reaction information about the target viewer of the content 33, i.e. the specific dog 21 while displaying the content 33 with the second image quality value corresponding to the specific dog 21, for example, at a frequency off 75 Hz. Here, the reaction information may include an expression, a pose, a motion, etc. of when the dog 21 pays attention to or is interested in something or when the dog 21 is indifferent to or hostile toward something.) including at least one of positive emotion (para [0104] when the dog 21 pays attention to or is interested (= positive) in something), negative emotion, or fatigue, based on sensed data from the sensor: and control an operation of the interactive display system based on the determined condition (para [0105] Further, the server 5 may determine a preference of a companion animal with regard to content displayed with a second image quality value based on the reaction information received from the display apparatus 1, and determine a third image quality value based on non-preference.).
Choi fails to teach, including selectively switching to calming content or notifying a user device of the emotional state; as claimed.
Takahashi teaches an animal emotion display system: comprising: a display modules configured to display an image (para [0042] A display content includes not only a message to express an emotion of an animal but also an image or an icon showing a face expression of the animal, or the like. para [0045] The display control section 24 outputs a display content corresponding to the emotion data received by the receiving section 22 to the display section 25.); and control an operation of the interactive display system based on the determined condition, including selectively switching to calming content (para [0042] A display content includes not only a message to express an emotion of an animal but also an image or an icon showing a face expression of the animal, or the like. Fig 6) or notifying a user device of the emotional state (para [0058] As described above, by the animal emotion display system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, emotion data for an emotion of the dog D, the emotion data transmitted from the transmitting section 15, can be received even at a place which is away from where the dog D is via the receiving section 22, and a display content corresponding to the emotion data can be displayed on the display section 25 by the display control section 24 since the transmitter 10 and the receiver 20 can communicate wirelessly with each other. Consequently, a human (for example, a pet owner) can appropriately understand an emotion of the dog D by seeing and checking a display content displayed on the display section 25 even when not being at the dog D's side.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the system of Choi with the teachings of Takahashi, because this will allow user to achieve appropriate understanding of emotions of an animal without a need to be at the animal's side, thus improving user experience.
Regarding claim 2, Choi teaches The interactive display system for a dog of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises an object identifier which is an algorithm configured to identify an object based on the sensed data (para [0079] For example, in a case of displaying the dog-dedicated content 33, the processor 18 may obtain object information about the target viewer of the content 33, i.e. a specific dog 21 while the dog-dedicated content 33 is displayed at a preset frequency of 70 Hz. Here, the object information may include the shape, motion, sound, or other information relating to the dog 21.).
Regarding claim 33, Choi teaches a method of operating an interactive display system for a dog comprising: displaying an image (para [0064] The display 13 displays an image based on a processed video signal on a screen thereof.); sensing a dog’s condition with at least one of a camera (para [0065] The sensor 14 may obtain information about a human or a companion animal, and may include a video capturer 141, an audio receiver 142, etc. The video capturer 141 maybe an image sensor for capturing an image in a frontward direction of the display apparatus 1 and obtaining image information about a human or a companion animal from the captured image. The video capturer 141 may be realized by a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or charge coupled device (CCD) camera.), a microphone, a proximity sensor, or a shock sensor configured to sense a condition of the dog (para [0065]); and controlling an operation with a processor (18; Fig 3) and a memory (17; Fig 3) storing instructions that, when executed by the processor (para [0072]; para [0073]), enable the controller to: determine at least one of (i) whether the dog is approaching the display module within a predetermined distance (para [0079] Here, the object information may include the shape, motion, sound, or other information relating to the dog 21. Fig 2). (ii) whether the dog is viewing the displayed image (para [0049] The display apparatus 1 may be realized by a television (TV) capable of outputting content. However, the display apparatus 1 is not limited to the TV, but may be realized by various electronic apparatuses capable of outputting multimedia content involving at least one of video content, audio content, a text or a picture, for example, para [0054] Thus, the dedicated content is displayed with the image quality value corresponding to the visual characteristics of the target viewer, so that a human or a companion animal can easily and stably view each individual dedicated content through one display apparatus 1.), and (iii) an emotional state of the dog (para [0104] For example, in the case of displaying the dog-dedicated content 33, the processor 18 may obtain the reaction information about the target viewer of the content 33, i.e. the specific dog 21 while displaying the content 33 with the second image quality value corresponding to the specific dog 21, for example, at a frequency off 75 Hz. Here, the reaction information may include an expression, a pose, a motion, etc. of when the dog 21 pays attention to or is interested in something or when the dog 21 is indifferent to or hostile toward something.) including at least one of positive emotion (para [0104] when the dog 21 pays attention to or is interested (= positive) in something), negative emotion, or fatigue, based on sensed data from the sensor: and control an operation of the interactive display system based on the determined condition (para [0105] Further, the server 5 may determine a preference of a companion animal with regard to content displayed with a second image quality value based on the reaction information received from the display apparatus 1, and determine a third image quality value based on non-preference.).
Choi fails to teach, including selectively switching to calming content or notifying a user device of the emotional state; as claimed.
Takahashi teaches a method of operating an animal emotion display system: comprising: displaying an image (para [0042] A display content includes not only a message to express an emotion of an animal but also an image or an icon showing a face expression of the animal, or the like. para [0045] The display control section 24 outputs a display content corresponding to the emotion data received by the receiving section 22 to the display section 25.); and controlling an operation of the interactive display system based on the determined condition, including selectively switching to calming content (para [0042] A display content includes not only a message to express an emotion of an animal but also an image or an icon showing a face expression of the animal, or the like. Fig 6) or notifying a user device of the emotional state (para [0058] As described above, by the animal emotion display system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, emotion data for an emotion of the dog D, the emotion data transmitted from the transmitting section 15, can be received even at a place which is away from where the dog D is via the receiving section 22, and a display content corresponding to the emotion data can be displayed on the display section 25 by the display control section 24 since the transmitter 10 and the receiver 20 can communicate wirelessly with each other. Consequently, a human (for example, a pet owner) can appropriately understand an emotion of the dog D by seeing and checking a display content displayed on the display section 25 even when not being at the dog D's side.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the method of Choi with the teachings of Takahashi, because this will allow user to achieve appropriate understanding of emotions of an animal without a need to be at the animal's side, thus improving user experience.
Claim(s) 3-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) (here after referenced as Choi-360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Choi et al. (2021/0049355) (here after referenced as Choi-355).
Regarding claim 3, Choi-360 teaches the interactive display system for a dog, wherein the camera senses an appearance of the dog (para [0065] The sensor 14 may obtain information about a human or a companion animal, and may include a video capturer 141, an audio receiver 142, etc. The video capturer 141 maybe an image sensor for capturing an image in a frontward direction of the display apparatus 1 and obtaining image information about a human or a companion animal from the captured image. The video capturer 141 may be realized by a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or charge coupled device (CCD) camera), and wherein the object identifier identifies the object based on at least one of shape (para [0079] the object information may include the shape, motion, sound, or other information relating to the dog 21.).
Choi-360 and Takahashi fails to teach wherein the object identifier identifies the object based on at least one of a color of the dog, shapes of the dog’s ears, eyes, mouth and nose and positions of the dog’s ears, eyes, mouth and nose; as claimed.
Choi-355 teaches a method of identifying animals comprising: identifies the object based on at least one of a color of the dog, shapes of the dog’s ears, eyes, mouth and nose and positions of the dog’s ears, eyes, mouth and nose (para [0022] Within the dog species there are traits of certain characters that can be used to identify the specific breed of a dog—or at least the possible genetic mix, in the case of non-purebreds. Such characters include: head shape, ear shape, size, tail shape, etc. As can be seen in FIG. 1, dogs of different breeds display a wide range of variations is their physical traits. It should be noted, however, that although there are standards for each character for each breed, individuals may deviate (in shape, length, etc.) somewhat depending on the breeding and other genetic and circumstantial factors. Para [0023] There are three primary traits for the head shape character, determined by taking into account the proportion of the muzzle (the part of the head that includes the nose and mouth) to the whole head. Para [0027]; para [0035]; para [0047]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi-360 and Takahashi with the teachings of Choi-355, because such methods of identifying objects is well known in the art and combining the teachings would yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 4, Choi-360 teaches the interactive display system for a dog of claim 3, wherein the controller varies contents displayed on the display module according to the object (para [0104] For example, in the case of displaying the dog-dedicated content 33, the processor 18 may obtain the reaction information about the target viewer of the content 33, i.e. the specific dog 21 while displaying the content 33 with the second image quality value corresponding to the specific dog 21, for example, at a frequency off 75 Hz. Here, the reaction information may include an expression, a pose, a motion, etc. of when the dog 21 pays attention to or is interested in something or when the dog 21 is indifferent to or hostile toward something.).
Regarding claim 5, Choi-360 teaches the interactive display system for a dog of claim 3, wherein the object identifier identifies the dog’s breed and age (para [0057] The server 5 identifies the dog 21 based on the object information, and determines a second image quality value corresponding to the identified dog 21. Here, identifying the dog 21 may include identifying at least one of the breed, age, sex or size of the dog 21.).
Regarding claim 6, Choi-360 teaches the interactive display system for a dog of claim 5, wherein the controller varies contents displayed on the display module based on the dog’s breed and age (para [0057] The server 5 identifies the dog 21 based on the object information, and determines a second image quality value corresponding to the identified dog 21. Here, identifying the dog 21 may include identifying at least one of the breed, age, sex or size of the dog 21. Para [0058] Meanwhile, the server 5 may employ at least one of machine learning, a neural network or a deep-learning algorithm as a rule-based or artificial-intelligence algorithm to identify the dog 21 or perform at least a part of data analysis, process, and result information generation for determining the second image quality value corresponding to the identified dog 21. para [0059] The display apparatus 1 may receive the second image quality value from the server 5, change the first image quality value into the second image quality value, and display the dedicated content 33 by applying the changed second image quality value, thereby providing the content 33 suitable for the visual characteristics of the specific dog 21.).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Plagemann et al. (2014/0225931).
Regarding claim 7, Choi and Takahashi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 1 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein the sensor comprises a proximity sensor, and wherein the controller comprises an approaching determiner which is an algorithm configured to determine the dog’s approach based on data of the proximity sensor; as claimed.
Plagemann teaches an adaptive screen interface comprising: a sensor comprises a proximity sensor (para [0023] A depth camera may be used to capture a sequence of images from an environment. The collected images may be processed to determine if a user or object is present. Para [0024] A horizontal distance between an object (e.g., a user) and the display may be determined based on one or more captured images from a camera), and wherein the controller comprises an approaching determiner which is an algorithm (para [0022]) configured to determine the user’s approach based on data of the proximity sensor (para [0026] FIGS. 4A-C show an example of how content may be altered based on user distance from a display.; Fig 4A-4C).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahasi with the teachings of Plagemann, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Claim(s) 7, 8, 9, 23, 25 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McQueen et al. (9,911,398).
Regarding claim 7, Choi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 1 above.
Choi fails to teach, wherein the sensor comprises a proximity sensor, and wherein the controller comprises an approaching determiner which is an algorithm configured to determine the dog’s approach based on data of the proximity sensor; as claimed.
McQueen teaches an interactive display system comprising: a sensor comprises a proximity sensor (col 4, lines 64-67: The display hub 102 may have various additional input and output components or capabilities 304, which may include keyboards, virtual keyboards, infrared cameras or sensors, proximity sensors, depth cameras, projectors, annunciators, indicators, and so forth, which may allow various additional functionalities and methods of user interaction.), and wherein the controller comprises an approaching determiner which is an algorithm (col 5, lines 4-13) configured to determine the user’s approach based on data of the proximity sensor (col 9, lines8-15: The hub 102 may be configured to detect the proximity of a user and to change the displayed content in response to changing proximity. For example, the hub 102 may initially display passive information like weather, news and notifications. As a user walks toward the hub 102, the hub may switch to more active information about the family's day such as a family dashboard showing notes, lists, notifications, and schedules relating to family activities).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Regarding claim 8, Choi and Takahashi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 1 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein when a distance between the dog and the display module is less than a first distance for equal to or greater than a first time, the approaching determiner determines the dog’s approach, and wherein when the distance between the dog and the display module is greater than a second distance which is greater than the first distance for equal to or greater than a second time which is greater than the first time, the approaching determiner determines that the dog leaves; as claimed.
McQueen teaches the interactive display system comprising: wherein when a distance between a user and a display module is less than a first distance for equal to or greater than a first time (Fig 5; col 11, lines 19-23: FIG. 5 illustrates an example technique for presenting content to a user to accommodate the distance of a user 106 from a display surface 404. The illustrated technique may be used by the display hub 102 to scale or size visual content on its display panel 202.), the approaching determiner determines the user’s approach (col 14, lines 15-22: An action 910 may comprise selecting a content density. The content density may be selected based on the determined distance of the user from the display surface. For example, content may be displayed at a first, relatively high content density when the user is at a first distance from the display surface and at a second, relatively low content density when the user is at a second, greater distance from the display surface. Generally, the content density is selected so that it increases as the user moves toward the display surface and decreases as the user moves away from the display surface.), and wherein when the distance between the user and the display module is greater than a second distance which is greater than the first distance (Fig 5; col 11, lines 47-50: FIG. 5 shows the user 106 at a series of increasing distances from the display 202. At each of distances D1, D2, D3, and D4, visual content 502 is displayed at a different content density.) for equal to or greater than a second time which is greater than the first time, the approaching determiner determines that the user leaves (col 14, lines 15-22: An action 910 may comprise selecting a content density. The content density may be selected based on the determined distance of the user from the display surface. For example, content may be displayed at a first, relatively high content density when the user is at a first distance from the display surface and at a second, relatively low content density when the user is at a second, greater distance from the display surface. Generally, the content density is selected so that it increases as the user moves toward the display surface and decreases as the user moves away from the display surface.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Regarding claim 9, Choi teaches the interactive display system for a dog; wherein the sensor comprises a camera as explained for claim 1 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein the sensor comprises a camera, and wherein the controller comprises a viewing determiner which is an algorithm configured to determine whether the dog views the video or not based on data of the camera; as claimed.
McQueen teaches the interactive display system; wherein the sensor comprises a camera (col 13, lines 3-13: The data 904 may comprise images obtained from cameras or other sensors of the hub 102. For example, the scene data 904 may comprise two-dimensional optical images, pictures, or video of the scene produced by and obtained from a color camera of the hub 102. As another example, the scene data 904 may comprise three-dimensional images or depth maps of the scene produced by a depth camera or depth sensor of the hub 102. The scene data 904 may also comprise stereoscopic images, infrared images, proximity data, audio signals or data, and other sensor data.), and wherein the controller comprises a viewing determiner which is an algorithm configured to determine whether the user views the video or not based on data of the camera (col 9, lines 22-28: Similarly, the hub 102 may be configured to detect when a user is directing their attention toward the hub 102, and may display user-specific or more detailed information when the user's gaze or attention is toward the hub 102. When the user removes their attention, more general or passive information may again be displayed.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based user’s attention, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Regarding claim 23, Choi and Takahashi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 9 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the dog is in a predetermined distance and the viewing determiner determines that the dog is not viewing the video, the controller controls to change a content of the display module; as claimed.
McQueen teaches an interactive display system, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the user is in a predetermined distance (Fig 5), and the viewing determiner determines that the user is not viewing the video (col 9, lines 23-28: Similarly, the hub 102 may be configured to detect when a user is directing their attention toward the hub 102, and may display user-specific or more detailed information when the user's gaze or attention is toward the hub 102. When the user removes their attention, more general or passive information may again be displayed.); the controller controls to change a content of the display module (col 14, lines 40-43: For example, content may be displayed at a relatively low density when the user is not looking at the hub 102 and at a higher density when the user is looking at the hub 102.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Regarding claim 25, Choi teaches the interactive display system for a dog of claim 9, wherein the memory stores a content displayed on the display module by tagging the dog’s viewing status for the content (para [0114] Meanwhile, the operations of the display apparatus 1 for making the image quality value be adaptively varied depending on the preference of the dog 21 for the dog-dedicated content 33 may be repeated several times until the dog 21 shows a preference reaction. When the dog 21 shows the preference reaction to the content 33 displayed with the third image quality value adaptively varied depending on the reaction information of the dog 21, the server 5 may store the third image quality value corresponding to the dog 21 as past history information. Further, when the dog-dedicated content is displayed in the future and the dog 21 is identified based on the object information, the server 5 transmits the third image quality value corresponding to the dog 21 based on the past history information of the dog 21 to the display apparatus 1 so that the display apparatus 1 can display the content 33 with the third image quality value.).
Regarding claim 30, Choi teaches the interactive display system for a dog of claim 1, wherein the display module and the sensor are included in a display apparatus (Fig 1; Fig 3), wherein the sensor is an internal sensor of the display apparatus (para [0051] the display apparatus may include a video capturer 141 and an audio receiver 142.), and wherein the sensor comprises a camera (para [0065] The video capturer 141 may be realized by a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or charge coupled device (CCD) camera.) and a microphone (para [0066] The audio receiver 142 may obtain audio information of a human or a companion animal, and may be realized by a microphone).
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, a proximity sensor; as claimed.
McQueen teaches an interactive display system comprising: a sensor comprises a proximity sensor (col 4, lines 64-67: The display hub 102 may have various additional input and output components or capabilities 304, which may include keyboards, virtual keyboards, infrared cameras or sensors, proximity sensors, depth cameras, projectors, annunciators, indicators, and so forth, which may allow various additional functionalities and methods of user interaction.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McQueen et al. (9,911,398) as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Tall et al. (2016/0248971).
Regarding claim 10, Choi, Takahashi and McQueen teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 9 above.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach wherein the viewing determiner sets a region of interest at positions of eyes of the dog and operates an eye tracking based on the region of interest; as claimed.
Tall teaches an illumination system comprising: comprising a viewing determiner sets a region of interest at positions of eyes of the user and operates an eye tracking based on the region of interest (para [0016] a user of a computing device may interact with and control objects and applications displayed on the computing device through the user's eye movement. An image of the user's eyes or face, captured by one or more front-facing cameras on or coupled to the computing device, may be analyzed using computer-vision algorithms, such as, for example, eye tracking algorithms and gaze detection algorithms. For example, the captured images may be processed to extract information relating to features of the user's eyes or face. The computing device may then use the extracted information to determine the location of the user's eyes and estimate the direction in which the user is looking (e.g., gaze direction), the location on the display at which the user is looking, or both. Para [0035], para [0036]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Tall, because this will provide system wherein image quality may be improved by increasing the intensity of the infrared light when the sensor is capturing a frame or a specific area of the frame, and reducing it otherwise. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Claim(s) 11, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McQueen et al. (9,911,398) as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Park et al. (2023/0191618).
Regarding claim 11, Choi, Takahashi and McQueen teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 9 above.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach, wherein the controller further comprises an emotion recognizer which is an algorithm configured to determine the dog’s emotion based on the data of the camera; as claimed.
Park teaches a robot comprising: an emotion recognizer which is an algorithm (para [0376]) configured to determine the dog’s emotion based on the data of the camera (para [0059] The robot 100 may capture the dog 1 in real time through a camera and analyze an emotional state of the dog 1 using captured images.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Park, because this will provide a robot capable of actively tracking and monitoring a pet and analyzing an emotional state of the pet in real time.
Regarding claim 12, Choi, Takahashi and McQueen teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 11 above.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach, wherein the sensor further comprises a microphone, and wherein the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s emotion based on the data of the camera and data of the microphone; as claimed.
Park teaches the robot comprising: sensor further comprises a microphone, and wherein the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s emotion based on the data of the camera and data of the microphone (para [0059] The robot 100 may capture the dog 1 in real time through a camera and analyze an emotional state of the dog 1 using captured images. para [0175] The emotion analysis module 142 may determine an emotional state of the pet by using a sound emitted by the pet; para [0176] Specifically, when the sound of the pet is input through the microphone of the robot 100, the emotion analysis module 142 may input an audio signal converted from the sound through the microphone to the AI model trained to determine the emotional state. Para [0183] For example, the emotion analysis module 142 may use all of the AI models 121 and 530 of FIGS. 5A and 5C. That is, the emotion analysis module 142 may determine an emotional state of the pet by using both an image captured through the camera 110 and a sound input through the microphone.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Park, because this will provide a robot capable of actively tracking and monitoring a pet and analyzing an emotional state of the pet in real time.
Regarding claim 13, Choi, Takahashi and McQueen teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 11 above.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach, wherein the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s positive emotion and the dog’s negative emotion using movements of the dog’s ears and movements of the dog’s facial muscles; as claimed.
Park teaches the robot wherein the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s positive emotion and the dog’s negative emotion using movements of the dog’s tail (para [0174] As a specific example, referring to FIG. 5B, a motion of ‘wagging the tail to the left’ may be mapped to ‘uncomfortable’ (= claimed negative emotion), a motion of ‘wagging the tail to the right’ may be mapped to ‘happiness’ (= claimed positive emotion), and a motion of ‘keeping the ears up’ may be mapped to ‘alert’, but is not limited thereto and may be defined/mapped in various ways.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Park, because this will provide a robot capable of actively tracking and monitoring a pet and analyzing an emotional state of the pet in real time. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to design system to detect positive and negative emotions using movements of the dog’s ears and movements of the dog’s facial muscles, because the system of Park is capable of identify each body part (e.g., legs, body, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, tail, etc.) of a pet (e.g., a dog) included in an image, and determine a motion (e.g., closing eyes, sniffing, erecting ears, erecting tail, etc.) of the pet according to a movement or a change in shape of each body part (Park: para [0168]).
Regarding claim 14, Choi, Takahashi and McQueen teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 11 above.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach, wherein the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s positive emotion and the dog’s negative emotion using angles of the dog’s ears, eyes, mouth and nose and shapes of eyes; as claimed.
Park teaches the robot wherein the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s positive emotion and the dog’s negative emotion using movements of the dog’s tail (para [0174] As a specific example, referring to FIG. 5B, a motion of ‘wagging the tail to the left’ may be mapped to ‘uncomfortable’ (= claimed negative emotion), a motion of ‘wagging the tail to the right’ may be mapped to ‘happiness’ (= claimed positive emotion), and a motion of ‘keeping the ears up’ may be mapped to ‘alert’, but is not limited thereto and may be defined/mapped in various ways.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Park, because this will provide a robot capable of actively tracking and monitoring a pet and analyzing an emotional state of the pet in real time. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to design system to detect positive and negative emotions using angles of the dog’s ears, eyes, mouth and nose and shapes of eyes, because the system of Park is capable of identify each body part (e.g., legs, body, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, tail, etc.) of a pet (e.g., a dog) included in an image, and determine a motion (e.g., closing eyes, sniffing, erecting ears, erecting tail, etc.) of the pet according to a movement or a change in shape of each body part (Park: para [0168]).
Regarding claim 17, Choi, Takahashi and McQueen teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 11 above.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach, wherein the emotion recognizer determines a degree of the dog’s fatigue based on a degree of the dog’s eyelid closure and a degree of the dog’s mouth opening; as claimed.
Park teaches the robot wherein the emotion recognizer determines a degree of the dog’s fatigue based on a movement or change in shape of each body part by identifying a position and shape of each body part included in sequentially captured images (para [0170]; para [0171] Alternatively, when an image including sequentially captured images is input, the pet motion analysis module 521 may use at least one AI model trained to determine a motion of a pet included in the corresponding image. This AI model may be trained using, as training data, images including each motion (e.g., tail wagging to the left, ears pricked, yawning, etc.) of a pet (e.g., a dog)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Park, because this will provide a robot capable of actively tracking and monitoring a pet and analyzing an emotional state of the pet in real time. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to design system to determine a degree of the dog’s fatigue based on a degree of the dog’s eyelid closure and a degree of the dog’s mouth opening, because the system of Park is capable of identify each body part (e.g., legs, body, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, tail, etc.) of a pet (e.g., a dog) included in an image, and determine a motion (e.g., closing eyes, sniffing, erecting ears, erecting tail, etc.) of the pet according to a movement or a change in shape of each body part (Park: para [0168]).
Regarding claim 22, Choi teaches the interactive display system for a dog of claim 11, wherein the memory stores a content displayed on the display module by tagging the dog’s emotion for the content (para [0114] Meanwhile, the operations of the display apparatus 1 for making the image quality value be adaptively varied depending on the preference of the dog 21 for the dog-dedicated content 33 may be repeated several times until the dog 21 shows a preference reaction. When the dog 21 shows the preference reaction to the content 33 displayed with the third image quality value adaptively varied depending on the reaction information of the dog 21, the server 5 may store the third image quality value corresponding to the dog 21 as past history information. Further, when the dog-dedicated content is displayed in the future and the dog 21 is identified based on the object information, the server 5 transmits the third image quality value corresponding to the dog 21 based on the past history information of the dog 21 to the display apparatus 1 so that the display apparatus 1 can display the content 33 with the third image quality value.).
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McQueen et al. (9,911,398) as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Park et al. (2023/0191618) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Yuki et al. (2016/0057395).
Regarding claim 18, Choi and Takahashi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 11 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the dog is in a predetermined distance, the viewing determiner determines that the dog is viewing the video and the emotion recognizer determines that the degree of the dog’s fatigue is equal to or greater than a reference value, the controller controls to turn off the display module or to change a content of the display module; as claimed.
McQueen teaches an interactive display system, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the user is in a predetermined distance, the viewing determiner determines that the user is viewing the video (col 6, lines 35-39: The capabilities may also be used in combination for other scene analyses such as user identification, detecting user positions and distances, face detection, face expression detection, eye/gaze tracking, gesture detection, and so forth. Col 7, lines 25-30: The hub 102 may select content for display based on user characteristics, such as which users are present, distances of users from the hub 102, whether any user is looking at or approaching the hub 102, whether any user is speaking to the hub 102, and so forth. Col 9, lines 26-28: When the user removes their attention, more general or passive information may again be displayed.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach, the emotion recognizer determines that the degree of the dog’s fatigue is equal to or greater than a reference value, the controller controls to turn off the display module or to change a content of the display module; as claimed.
Park teaches the robot comprising the emotion recognizer determines that the degree of the dog’s fatigue is equal to or greater than a reference value (para [0070] The emotional state of the pet may include various emotional states, such as joy, sadness, pain, loneliness, boredom, and sleepiness. Para [0071] The AI model 121 may be implemented as a classifier for selecting at least one of these various emotional states, and at this time, the AI model 121 may output the probability that a pet corresponds to each emotional state in the form of a score for each emotional state.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Park, because this will provide a robot capable of actively tracking and monitoring a pet and analyzing an emotional state of the pet in real time.
Choi, Takahashi, McQueen and Park fails to teach the controller controls to turn off the display module or to change a content of the display module; as claimed.
Yuki teaches an electronic device comprising: a controller (203; Fig 2B); an emotion recognizer determines that the degree of the dog’s fatigue is equal to or greater than a reference value (901; Fig 9 shows plurality of states of animal being detected such as sleeping, awake …), the controller controls to turn off the display module or to change a content of the display module (para [0221] For instance, a case is discussed in which a human is determined to be “absent” or “sleep” and an animal is determined to be “absent” or “sleep” by the living thing state estimator 205 (for instance, a case in which determination of “No” is made in step S502 of FIG. 5). In this case, the control detail determiner 206 refers to the table 901 and determines an output (control detail) for which both the column of state of human and the column of state of animal are associated with “absent/sleep”. The control detail is power supply OFF (standby mode) as illustrated in FIG. 9.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi, McQueen and Park with the teachings of Yuki, because this will provide device control method that achieve relief of stress of an animal such as a dog that stays home alone and a comfortable life space where a human and an animal coexist (Yuki: para [0002]).
Claim(s) 19, 20 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McQueen et al. (9,911,398) as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Park et al. (2023/0191618) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Womble et al. (2020/0178505).
Regarding claim 19, Choi and Takahashi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 11 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the dog is in a predetermined distance and the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s negative emotion, the controller controls the display module to display a photo or a video of a dog owner; as claimed.
McQueen teaches an interactive display system, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the user is in a predetermined distance, the viewing determiner determines that the user is viewing the video (col 6, lines 35-39: The capabilities may also be used in combination for other scene analyses such as user identification, detecting user positions and distances, face detection, face expression detection, eye/gaze tracking, gesture detection, and so forth. Col 7, lines 25-30: The hub 102 may select content for display based on user characteristics, such as which users are present, distances of users from the hub 102, whether any user is looking at or approaching the hub 102, whether any user is speaking to the hub 102, and so forth. Col 9, lines 26-28: When the user removes their attention, more general or passive information may again be displayed.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach, the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s negative emotion, the controller controls the display module to display a photo or a video of a dog owner; as claimed.
Park teaches the robot comprising the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s negative emotion (Fig 5C; para [0070] The emotional state of the pet may include various emotional states, such as joy, sadness, pain, loneliness, boredom, and sleepiness. Para [0071] The AI model 121 may be implemented as a classifier for selecting at least one of these various emotional states, and at this time, the AI model 121 may output the probability that a pet corresponds to each emotional state in the form of a score for each emotional state.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Park, because this will provide a robot capable of actively tracking and monitoring a pet and analyzing an emotional state of the pet in real time.
Choi, Takahashi, McQueen and Park fails to teach, the controller controls the display module to display a photo or a video of a dog owner; as claimed.
Womble teaches a animal care device comprising: a controller (700; para[0098]); an emotion recognizer determines the dog’s negative emotion (para [0084] The smart collar 608 will detect geographical coordinates using GPS (global positioning system) 612 and other suitable methods, and can be both preprogrammed with known animal characteristics from a library of known animal movements or capable of learning and storing the movement a particular animal movements and associating those movements with a certain activity the animal is performing (i.e., eating, jumping on the couch, defecating, chasing another animal, sleeping, chewing on something, etc.) and based on the activity the animal care device 100 will respond with a preprogrammed response based on the activity the animal 600 is involved in (example jumping on the couch when it is not supposed to) or a combination of learned traits combined with GPS (global positioning system) location (i.e., the animal is in the living room, on the couch, exhibiting a movement consistent with eating, the animal care device 100 is programmed to assume it is chewing on a pillow and responds with an audio, audio/video, alarm or collar shock or other response designed to correct the animal 600 and stop the behavior.); and the controller controls the display module to display a photo or a video of a dog owner (para [0037]. For example, the animal care device 100 may walk a dog, provide food, water and medicine, or provide a video display showing a real-time or prerecorded video or image of the dog's owner. para [0084] It may also alert the owner and allow the owner to initiate a response remotely or speak to the animal via video or audio to correct the action.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi, McQueen and Park with the teachings of Womble, because this will provide device which will prevent physical or emotional harm due to the lack of proper care by owners who are geographically removed from the animal or due to the inadvertent or purposeful oversight of third-party animal caregivers (Wombles: para [0003]).
Regarding claim 20, Choi an d Takahashi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 11 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the dog is in a predetermined distance and the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s negative emotion, the controller controls to change a content of the display module; as claimed.
McQueen teaches an interactive display system, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the user is in a predetermined distance, the viewing determiner determines that the user is viewing the video (col 6, lines 35-39: The capabilities may also be used in combination for other scene analyses such as user identification, detecting user positions and distances, face detection, face expression detection, eye/gaze tracking, gesture detection, and so forth. Col 7, lines 25-30: The hub 102 may select content for display based on user characteristics, such as which users are present, distances of users from the hub 102, whether any user is looking at or approaching the hub 102, whether any user is speaking to the hub 102, and so forth. Col 9, lines 26-28: When the user removes their attention, more general or passive information may again be displayed.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach, the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s negative emotion, the controller controls to change a content of the display module; as claimed.
Park teaches the robot comprising the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s negative emotion (Fig 5C; para [0070] The emotional state of the pet may include various emotional states, such as joy, sadness, pain, loneliness, boredom, and sleepiness. Para [0071] The AI model 121 may be implemented as a classifier for selecting at least one of these various emotional states, and at this time, the AI model 121 may output the probability that a pet corresponds to each emotional state in the form of a score for each emotional state.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Park, because this will provide a robot capable of actively tracking and monitoring a pet and analyzing an emotional state of the pet in real time.
Choi, Takahashi, McQueen and Park fails to teach, the controller controls to change a content of the display module; as claimed.
Womble teaches an animal care device comprising: a controller (700; para[0098]); an emotion recognizer determines the dog’s negative emotion (para [0084] The smart collar 608 will detect geographical coordinates using GPS (global positioning system) 612 and other suitable methods, and can be both preprogrammed with known animal characteristics from a library of known animal movements or capable of learning and storing the movement a particular animal movements and associating those movements with a certain activity the animal is performing (i.e., eating, jumping on the couch, defecating, chasing another animal, sleeping, chewing on something, etc.) and based on the activity the animal care device 100 will respond with a preprogrammed response based on the activity the animal 600 is involved in (example jumping on the couch when it is not supposed to) or a combination of learned traits combined with GPS (global positioning system) location (i.e., the animal is in the living room, on the couch, exhibiting a movement consistent with eating, the animal care device 100 is programmed to assume it is chewing on a pillow and responds with an audio, audio/video, alarm or collar shock or other response designed to correct the animal 600 and stop the behavior.); and the controller controls to change a content of the display module (para [0037]. For example, the animal care device 100 may walk a dog, provide food, water and medicine, or provide a video display showing a real-time or prerecorded video or image of the dog's owner. para [0084] It may also alert the owner and allow the owner to initiate a response remotely or speak to the animal via video or audio to correct the action.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi, McQueen and Park with the teachings of Womble, because this will provide device which will prevent physical or emotional harm due to the lack of proper care by owners who are geographically removed from the animal or due to the inadvertent or purposeful oversight of third-party animal caregivers (Wombles: para [0003]).
Regarding claim 21, Choi and Takahashi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 11 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the dog is in a predetermined distance and the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s negative emotion, the controller sends a to a dog owner’s mobile apparatus notifying that the dog has the negative emotion; as claimed.
McQueen teaches an interactive display system, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the user is in a predetermined distance, the viewing determiner determines that the user is viewing the video (col 6, lines 35-39: The capabilities may also be used in combination for other scene analyses such as user identification, detecting user positions and distances, face detection, face expression detection, eye/gaze tracking, gesture detection, and so forth. Col 7, lines 25-30: The hub 102 may select content for display based on user characteristics, such as which users are present, distances of users from the hub 102, whether any user is looking at or approaching the hub 102, whether any user is speaking to the hub 102, and so forth. Col 9, lines 26-28: When the user removes their attention, more general or passive information may again be displayed.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Claim(s) 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McQueen et al. (9,911,398) as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Yuki et al. (2016/0057395).
Regarding claim 24, Choi and Takahashi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 9 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the dog is not in a predetermined distance and the viewing determiner determines that the dog is not viewing the video, the controller controls to turn off the display module; as claimed.
McQueen teaches an interactive display system, wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the user is not in a predetermined distance (Fig 5; col 12, lines 12-17: When the user 106 is at a distance greater than the third distance D3, such as at a fourth distance D4 (this implies that user is not at distance less than third distance) which may be in the range of 15 feet as an example, a very low content density is selected and used for displaying the content 502. At this content density, a limited number of very large and descriptive icons or graphics are displayed), the controller controls to change a content of the display module (col 12, lines 12-17: When the user 106 is at a distance greater than the third distance D3, such as at a fourth distance D4 which may be in the range of 15 feet as an example, a very low content density is selected and used for displaying the content 502. At this content density, a limited number of very large and descriptive icons or graphics are displayed).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of McQueen, because this will provide system wherein the content of the display can be changed based on the proximity, thus providing improved user interaction. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Choi, Takahashi and McQueen fails to teach, and the viewing determiner determines that the dog is not viewing the video, the controller controls to turn off the display module; as claimed.
Yuki teaches an electronic device comprising: a controller (203; Fig 2B); and an viewing determiner determines that the dog is not viewing the video (Fig 9), the controller controls to turn off the display module (para [0221] For instance, a case is discussed in which a human is determined to be “absent” or “sleep” and an animal is determined to be “absent” or “sleep” by the living thing state estimator 205 (for instance, a case in which determination of “No” is made in step S502 of FIG. 5). In this case, the control detail determiner 206 refers to the table 901 and determines an output (control detail) for which both the column of state of human and the column of state of animal are associated with “absent/sleep”. The control detail is power supply OFF (standby mode) as illustrated in FIG. 9.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and McQueen with the teachings of Yuki, because this will provide device control method that achieve relief of stress of an animal such as a dog that stays home alone and a comfortable life space where a human and an animal coexist while also providing power saving (Yuki: para [0002]).
Claim(s) 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McQueen et al. (9,911,398) as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Yuki et al. (2016/0057395) as applied to claim 24 above, and further in view of Cheong et al. (2019/0246172).
Regarding claim 26, Choi, Takahashi, McQueen and Yuki teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 24 above.
Choi, Takahashi, McQueen and Yuki fails to teach; wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the dog is in a predetermined distance while the display module is turned off, the controller controls to turn on the display module; as claimed.
Cheong teaches an interactive display device comprising: an approaching determiner determines that user is in a predetermined distance while the display module is turned off, the controller controls to turn on the display module (Fig 2; para [0078] Specifically, if it is determined that the user exists in the second area, the processor 150 may control to provide power to the display 140 in an off state to activate the display 140).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi, McQueen and Yuki with the teachings of Cheong, because this will provide system having power saving feature. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such experience for dogs.
Claim(s) 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lippman et al. (2016/0121951).
Regarding claim 27, Choi and Takahashi teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 1 above.
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein the sensor comprises a shock sensor, and wherein when the shock sensor detects a shock, the controller sends a notification message to a dog owner notifying a shock detection; as claimed.
Lippman teaches an alarm system comprising: a shock sensor (140; Fig 2), and wherein when the shock sensor detects a shock (para [0029] For instance, the controller 155 may determine that someone is attempting to disable the alarm system 105 by monitoring the output of the shock sensor 140. The shock sensor 140 may output the shock signal in response to a force applied to the touch sensor 130 or frame 110. If the shock signal is detected, the process 300 may continue at block 330), the controller sends a notification message to a owner notifying a shock detection (para [0030] At block 330, the alarm system 105 may alert the owner of a potential theft of the bicycle 100. That is, the touch sensor 130 may output the alarm signal in response to detecting a nearby person.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of Lippman, because this will provide timely notification to the user for taking corrective action. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have combined the teachings in order to yield predictable results of providing such safety measures for dogs/pets.
Claim(s) 28 and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lippman et al. (2016/0121951).
Regarding claim 28, Choi teaches the interactive display system for a dog of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a microphone (142; Fig 3; para [0066] The audio receiver 142 may obtain audio information of a human or a companion animal, and may be realized by a microphone.), and wherein when the controller recognizes that a barking sound or a howling sound by the microphone (para [0129] Meanwhile, the server 5 may generate or learn a dog reaction model dm5 about a sound, most processes of which are similar to those of generating or learning the dog reaction model dm2 about the shape of FIG. 9, and thus descriptions will be made focusing on different parts.).
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein when the controller recognizes that a barking sound or a howling sound is repeated multiple times by the microphone, the controller controls to play a whistle sound or play a calming content; as claimed.
Womble teaches a system for remote monitoring, comprising: a sensor comprises a microphone (para [0070] the audio capabilities of display 116 allow the animal to both see and hear the caregiver, and allow the caregiver to hear the animal), and wherein when the controller recognizes that a barking sound or a howling sound is repeated multiple times by the microphone (para [0081] The animal care device 100 is equipped with a bark recognition sensor logic capable of “learning” unique barks or sounds of distress associated with individual animals 600 and differentiating between the barks or distress sounds to determine which individual animal 600 is making the sound, if multiple animals are present. Para [0101]), the controller controls to play a whistle sound or play a calming content (para [0082] The animal care device 100 may operate in a bark suppression mode to dissuade and prevent an animal 600 from making certain noises (i.e., bark suppression system consisting of an audible noise or image or a preset message from the owner or a noise emitter to calm a horse when the animal care application recognizes noises or sounds associated with the animal being “spooked”). The system can be activated by a preset sensing system or by a library of sounds recorded and loaded onto the system with a unique suppression or calming response programmed for each noise in the library.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of Womble, because this will provide user to receive timely notification such that corrective action to be taken.
Regarding claim 29, Choi teaches the interactive display system for a dog of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a microphone (142; Fig 3; para [0066] The audio receiver 142 may obtain audio information of a human or a companion animal, and may be realized by a microphone.), and wherein when the controller recognizes that a barking sound or a howling sound by the microphone (para [0129] Meanwhile, the server 5 may generate or learn a dog reaction model dm5 about a sound, most processes of which are similar to those of generating or learning the dog reaction model dm2 about the shape of FIG. 9, and thus descriptions will be made focusing on different parts.).
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein when the controller recognizes that a barking sound or a howling sound is repeated multiple times by the microphone, the controller sends a sound generation notification message to a dog owner’s mobile apparatus; as claimed.
Womble teaches a system for remote monitoring, comprising: a sensor comprises a microphone (para [0070] the audio capabilities of display 116 allow the animal to both see and hear the caregiver, and allow the caregiver to hear the animal), and wherein when the controller recognizes that a barking sound or a howling sound is repeated multiple times by the microphone (para [0081] The animal care device 100 is equipped with a bark recognition sensor logic capable of “learning” unique barks or sounds of distress associated with individual animals 600 and differentiating between the barks or distress sounds to determine which individual animal 600 is making the sound, if multiple animals are present. Para [0101]), the controller sends a sound generation notification message to a dog owner’s mobile apparatus (para [0101] The animal care device 800 is capable of interfacing with and activating personnel or home security system 606 (alarm, directing security cameras toward the sound of the barking, etc.) if the barking exceeds certain parameters (example, constant barking for more than 30 minutes, etc.) and also notifies the owner via a user computing device 602, e.g., cell phone, tablet, or computer, or notify a third person or agency 604.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of Womble, because this will provide user to receive timely notification such that corrective action to be taken.
Claim(s) 31 and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (2019/0289360) in view of Takahashi (2011/0018717) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yuki et al. (2016/0057395).
Regarding claim 31, Choi teaches the interactive display system for a dog of claim 1, wherein the display module is included in a display apparatus (Fig 3; para [0061]).
Choi and Takahashi fails to teach, wherein the sensor is an external sensor disposed outside the display apparatus; as claimed.
Yuki teaches an electronic device comprising: a sensor (201; Fig 2B); wherein the sensor is an external sensor disposed outside the display apparatus (para [0150] In addition, the detector 210 does not have to include the device 101(a). For instance, the detector 210 may be separated from the device 101(a).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi and Takahashi with the teachings of Yuki and a matter of design choice to have the sensor be either internal or external; as the location of the sensor would not change the functionality of the sensor and it will perform same function regardless of the location in order to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 32, Choi, Takahashi and Yuki teaches the interactive display system for a dog as explained for claim 31 above.
Choi, Takahashi and Yuki fails to teach, wherein the external sensor is disposed in at least one of a laptop computer, a personal computer, an internet television and a closed circuit camera system; as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of present application to have modified the device of Choi, Takahashi and Yuki and a matter of design choice to have the sensor in at least one of a laptop computer, a personal computer, an internet television and a closed circuit camera system; as these devices and systems are well known in the art and also it well know that such devices have various sensors. Thus including the sensors in these external device and the location of the sensor would not change the functionality of the sensor and the system will perform same function regardless of the location in order to yield predictable results.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15 and 16 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claim 15, prior art of record fails to teach the following claim limitations of “wherein when the approaching determiner determines that the dog is in a predetermined distance, the viewing determiner determines that the dog is viewing the video and the emotion recognizer determines the dog’s positive emotion, the controller controls the display module to display the video continuously”; in combination with all other claim limitations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/8/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Remarks on page 10-11 regarding claimed “approaching determiner which is an algorithm…” are considered. However, specification as originally filed does not provide proper support for such, as in amended claim 7. Applicant has amended the claims such that claim interpretation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) does not apply. Further remarks on page 11-13 are considered. Claims 1 and 33 are amended, which changes the scope of the claims and required further consideration and updated search. Newly cited prior art Takahashi in combination with Choi teaches the amended claims. Thus applicant’s remarks regarding claim 1 and 33 are not persuasive.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) 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.
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/PREMAL R PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624
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