Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
1. This communication is responsive to the application filed 9/16/2024.
2. Claims 1-20 are pending in this application. Claim 1 is independent. This action is made Non-Final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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.
4. Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 7-10, 12-13, 16, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US 11,947,729)(CN 113238650) in view of Xu (US 2020/0286246).
Regarding claim 1, Wu discloses an input recognition method in virtual scene, applied to a smart device (see the Abstract; e.g., gesture recognition and virtual reality apparatus), comprising:
identifying a hand key point of a user from a binocular image obtained by taking a hand by a binocular camera (see fig. 1, S1100: "obtain a hand image, acquired by each lens of a binocular camera, of a user", S1200: "At S1200, recognize, through a pre-constructed recognition model [...] finger joint bone points and a palm center bone point.");
calculating a fingertip coordinate by using a binocular positioning algorithm, based on a position of the hand key point in the binocular image (see col. 9: "S1310 [...] Particularly, obtain two-dimensional coordinates of a thumb fingertip bone point and an index fingertip bone point in the two frames of hand bone point images, and separately calculate, based on a binocular ranging principle, three-dimensional coordinates, at the first time point, of a thumb fingertip bone point and an index fingertip bone point.");
determining the user performs an input operation via the target virtual input interface (see col. 14, S3200: "perform, according to the gesture recognition result, gesture control on power on and off"…also see fig. 1, S1400: "recognize a gesture of the user according to the hand gesture data").
Wu does not expressly disclose comparing the fingertip coordinate with at least one virtual input interface in the virtual scene; and if the fingertip position and a target virtual input interface in the at least one virtual input interface satisfy a set position rule.
However, Xu discloses a gesture input happens when after comparing the fingertip coordinate with at least one virtual input interface in the virtual scene, the fingertip position and a target virtual input interface in the at least one virtual input interface satisfy a set position rule (see claim 4: if the fingertip position is located on the target virtual input interface, determining the user is touching the target virtual input interface; and/or, if the fingertip position is located on a side of the target virtual input interface away from the user and a distance between the fingertip and the target virtual input interface is greater than a preset distance threshold, determining the user is clicking on the target virtual input interface.). It would have been obvious to an artisan before the effective filing date of the present invention to include Xu’s teachings in Wu’s user interface in an effort to provide a more user-friendly interface with fast detection speed.
Regarding claim 3, Xu discloses wherein the calculating a fingertip coordinate by using a binocular positioning algorithm, based on a position of the hand key point in the binocular image, comprises: for any finger of the user, determining whether the identified hand key point comprises a fingertip joint point of the finger; if the hand key point comprises the fingertip joint point of the finger, calculating the position of the fingertip joint point of the finger in the virtual scene by using the binocular positioning algorithm according to the position of the fingertip joint point in the binocular image as the fingertip coordinate of the finger (see figs 1a-c and claim 4; e.g. “if a difference between the depth distance and the vertical-axis distance is greater than or equal to a distance threshold, determining the minimum-depth point as the fingertip position; if the difference between the depth distance and the vertical-axis distance is less than the distance threshold, determining the hand vertex as the fingertip position.”).
Regarding claim 4, Xu discloses if the hand key point does not comprise the fingertip joint point of the finger, calculating a bending angle of the finger according to the position of the visible key point on the finger in the binocular image and a finger joint associated feature when performing the input operation; calculating the fingertip coordinate of the finger according to the bending angle of the finger and the position of the visible key point on the finger in the binocular image (see fig 2, S2002).
Regarding claim 7, Xu discloses wherein if the fingertip position and a target virtual input interface in the at least one virtual input interface satisfy a set position rule, determining the user performs an input operation via the target virtual input interface, comprises: if the fingertip position is located on the target virtual input interface, determining the user is touching the target virtual input interface; and/or, if the fingertip position is located on a side of the target virtual input interface away from the user and a distance between the fingertip and the target virtual input interface is greater than a preset distance threshold, determining the user is clicking on the target virtual input interface (see figs 1a-c and claim 4; e.g. “if a difference between the depth distance and the vertical-axis distance is greater than or equal to a distance threshold, determining the minimum-depth point as the fingertip position; if the difference between the depth distance and the vertical-axis distance is less than the distance threshold, determining the hand vertex as the fingertip position.”).
Regarding claim 8, Wu and Xu disclose wherein an infrared sensor is installed on the smart device; the method further comprises: collecting a distance value between the infrared sensor and the hand key point by using the infrared sensor; correcting the calculated fingertip position of the user by using the distance value (well-known teaching in the art- standard sensor fusion technique).
Claim 9 is similar in scope to claim 1 and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 10 is similar in scope to claim 1 and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 12 is similar in scope to claim 8 and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 13 is similar in scope to claim 8 and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 16 is similar in scope to claim 8 and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 18 is similar in scope to claim 3 and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 20 is similar in scope to claim 3 and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claim(s) 2, 11, 17 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu and Xu in view of Hoshino (JP 2014165660).
Regarding claim 2, Wu and Xu do not explicitly disclose wherein the identifying a hand key point of a user from a binocular image obtained by taking a hand by a binocular camera, comprises: for any monocular image in the binocular image, detecting a hand area from the monocular image by using a target detection algorithm; segmenting a foreground image corresponding to the hand area from the monocular image; and identifying the foreground image by using a preset hand key point recognition model to obtain the hand key point in the monocular image.
However, Hoshino discloses wherein the identifying a hand key point of a user from a binocular image obtained by taking a hand by a binocular camera, comprises: for any monocular image in the binocular image, detecting a hand area from the monocular image by using a target detection algorithm; segmenting a foreground image corresponding to the hand area from the monocular image; and identifying the foreground image by using a preset hand key point recognition model to obtain the hand key point in the monocular image (see fig 7; e.g., hand area detection). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to include Hoshino’s teachings in Wu’s user interface as a well-known alternative with predictable results.
Regarding claim 11, Wu and Xu disclose wherein an infrared sensor is installed on the smart device; the method further comprises: collecting a distance value between the infrared sensor and the hand key point by using the infrared sensor; correcting the calculated fingertip position of the user by using the distance value (well-known teaching in the art- standard sensor fusion technique).
Claim 17 is similar in scope to claim 2 and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 19 is similar in scope to claim 2 and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 5, 6, 14 and 15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yang (CN 102722249).
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RASHAWN N TILLERY whose telephone number is (571)272-6480. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00a - 5:30p.
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/RASHAWN N TILLERY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2174
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