DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 8-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueshima et al (US 20200033948 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Ueshima discloses a control device of a haptic feedback device that includes a movable part provided to be moved in response to an operation, generates a sense of force for the operation on the movable part in correspondence with a movement amount of the movable part, and presents haptic sensation of an object to be displayed (Ueshima [0016], “a display control unit included in a haptic feedback device for virtual objects (present haptic sensation of an object to be displayed) … haptic feedback unit includes a movable portion movable with an operation performed by the user (a movable part provided to be moved in response to an operation), a movement resistance generator that applies movement resistance to the movable portion, and a movement resistance controller (a control device of a haptic feedback device) that controls the movement resistance applied by the movement resistance generator to the movable portion”; [0057], “provides the user with haptic feedback corresponding to a current fed from the power feed unit 200 through a movable portion (provide/generate a sense of force for the operation on the movable part in correspondence with a movement amount of the movable part)”),
wherein the control device
stores, for each object to be displayed, control data for generating the sense of force in a case where the object is displayed in association with the movement amount of the movable part (Ueshima [0043], “The storage 13 stores a haptic information database (DB) 22, in addition to the program 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the haptic information DB 22 includes haptic information for various types of virtual objects.”),
stores, for each object to be displayed, setting data to vary a scale of a range of movement of the movable part in which the sense of force is generated within a movable range of the movable part (Ueshima [0077], “when a current is fed to the coil 131, a magnetic path forms … the torque transmitted between the disk 128 and the yokes 129 and 130 increases in accordance with the strength of the magnetic field … the rotational resistance generator 104 applies rotational resistance corresponding to the current fed to the coil 131 to the rotational shaft 103 (sense of force varies based on the current that is fed)”; [0079], “The power feed controller 202 changes a current to be fed to the coil 131 between 0 A and a current value (scale of a range of movement of the movable part based on the supplied current) specified by the parameter information”; [0099], “haptic information DB 22A stores current parameter information about the current to be fed to the rotational resistance generator … in association with the type of a selectable virtual object (for each object) and the movement amount of the movable portion 102 (setting data to vary movement amount/scale of a range of movement, of the movable part in which the sense of force is generated within a movable range of the movable part)”; [0100], “haptic information (current parameter information) associated with the type of the selected virtual object 38 and the information about the movement amount of the movable portion 102 transmitted from the haptic feedback unit 4, and transmits the haptic information to the haptic feedback unit 4.”).
Ueshima does not expressly disclose
corrects, based on the setting data, a correspondence relationship between the movement amount of the movable part and the control data corresponding to the movement amount, and
outputs the corrected control data associated with the movement amount of the movable part to the haptic feedback device.
However, Ueshima suggests
corrects, based on the setting data, a correspondence relationship between the movement amount of the movable part and the control data corresponding to the movement amount (Ueshima [0079], “The power feed controller 202 changes a current to be fed to the coil 131 between 0 A and a current value specified by the parameter information”; [0083], “haptic information transmitter 35 reads current parameter information as the haptic information associated with the virtual object 38 from the haptic information DB 22, and transmits the current parameter information (control data) to the haptic feedback unit 4 (correction/change occurs based on a selected virtual object; see fig. 19, wherein each virtual object has a corresponding Current Value.)”; [0084], “When the power feed controller 202 receives the current parameter information transmitted from the haptic information transmitter 35 through the wireless communication device 203 in the haptic feedback unit 4 (T1), the power feed controller 202 (movement resistance controller) controls the current to be fed from the battery 201 to the coil 131 in the rotational resistance generator 104 (resistance generator “corrects”/changes the corresponding relative movement of the movable part in accordance with the control data)”), and
outputs the corrected control data associated with the movement amount of the movable part to the haptic feedback device (Ueshima[0085], “the rotational resistance generator 104 applies a magnetic field with the strength corresponding to the current fed from the power feed controller (corrected/changed current data is fed to the haptic feedback device) … the rotational resistance generator 104 applies the rotational resistance corresponding to the current … and the rotational resistance appears in the movable portion … as movement resistance. The movement resistance is provided to the user as haptic feedback to the user pushing the movable portion 102. The haptic feedback provided to the user pushing the movable portion 102 varies depending on, for example, the current value”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to change current information for different virtual objects to control a movement of a haptic device in correspondence with the defined haptic information for each virtual object. This would have been done to provide users with a realistic feel for different virtual object and thereby provide users with improved virtual experiences.
Regarding claim 9, Ueshima discloses the control device according to claim 8, wherein the control device
accepts, as the setting data, a movement amount at a start of the range of movement of the movable part in which a sense of force is generated for the movable part (Ueshima fig. 19; [0079], “The power feed controller 202 changes a current to be fed to the coil 131 between 0 A and a current value specified by the parameter information in accordance with the frequency and the duty ratio specified by the parameter information (a movement amount at a start of the range of movement corresponds to the current value)”; [0099], “as shown in FIG. 19, a haptic information DB 22A stores current parameter information about the current to be fed to the rotational resistance generator 104 included in the haptic feedback unit 4 in association with the type of a selectable virtual object and the movement amount of the movable portion 102.”), and
changes the scale of the range, based on the accepted movement amount and the movable range of the movable part (Ueshima fig. 19; [0079], “The power feed controller 202 changes a current to be fed to the coil 131 between 0 A and a current value specified by the parameter information in accordance with the frequency and the duty ratio specified by the parameter information (the scale of the range changes as the specified current changes)”; [0099], “as shown in FIG. 19, a haptic information DB 22A stores current parameter information about the current to be fed to the rotational resistance generator 104 included in the haptic feedback unit 4 in association with the type of a selectable virtual object and the movement amount of the movable portion 102 (accepted movement amount corresponds to a selected virtual object – see fig. 19 - 22A).”).
Regarding claim 10, Ueshima discloses the control device according to claim 8, wherein the control device accepts a change of the scale (Ueshima [0084], “the power feed controller 202 receives the current parameter information transmitted from the haptic information transmitter … the power feed controller 202 (movement resistance controller) (the control device accepts a change of the scale corresponding to current parameter information) controls the current to be fed from the battery 201 to the coil 131 in the rotational resistance generator”).
Regarding claim 11, Ueshima discloses the control device according to claim 9, wherein the control device
stores the control data in association with the movement amount based on comparison between an actual size of the movable range of the movable part and an actual size of the object (Ueshima [0094], “The processor 11 in the HMD control unit 3 also functions as a movement amount determination unit 36 that determines whether a movement amount is larger than or equal to a predetermined amount based on the information about the movement amount of the movable portion 102 in the haptic feedback unit 4 obtained from the movement amount detector 111 (an actual size of the movable range of the movable part).”; [0095], “predetermined display operation include deforming the selected virtual object (reads on a known size of an object since deforming the object would be based on its size; deformation also corresponds to stored control data that enable the deformation and corresponding movement amount of the movable part)”), and
corrects, based on the changed scale, the correspondence relationship between the movement amount of the movable part and the control data (Ueshima [0079], “The power feed controller 202 changes a current to be fed to the coil 131 between 0 A and a current value specified by the parameter information”; [0083], “haptic information transmitter 35 reads current parameter information as the haptic information associated with the virtual object 38 from the haptic information DB 22, and transmits the current parameter information (control data) to the haptic feedback unit 4 (correction/change occurs based on a selected virtual object; see fig. 19, wherein each virtual object has a corresponding Current Value.)”; [0084], “When the power feed controller 202 receives the current parameter information transmitted from the haptic information transmitter 35 through the wireless communication device 203 in the haptic feedback unit 4 (T1), the power feed controller 202 (movement resistance controller) controls the current to be fed from the battery 201 to the coil 131 in the rotational resistance generator 104 (resistance generator “corrects”/changes the corresponding relative movement of the movable part in accordance with the control data)”).
Claim 12 recites a control method which corresponds to the function performed by the device of claim 1. As such, the mapping and rejection of claim 1 above is considered applicable to the control method of claim 12.
Claim 13 recites a haptic feedback system which corresponds to the function performed by the device of claim 1. As such, the mapping and rejection of claim 1 above is considered applicable to the haptic feedback system of claim 13.
Additionally Ueshima discloses
an information processing device that is connected to and communicates with the haptic feedback device and includes a display unit (Ueshima figs. 3-4; [0044], “A wireless communication device 24 is connected to the communication interface 14. The HMD control unit 3 performs wireless communications with a wireless communication device 203 included in the haptic feedback unit 4 (described later) through the wireless communication device 24.”)
outputs, based on a visual data after correction, an image to the display unit in correspondence with the movement amount of the movable part (Ueshima [0095], “When the movement amount determination unit 36 determines that the movement amount of the movable portion 102 … predetermined display operation include deforming the selected virtual object”).
Claim 14 recites a non-transitory computer readable medium which corresponds to the function performed by the device of claim 1. As such, the mapping and rejection of claim 1 above is considered applicable to the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14.
Additionally Ueshima discloses
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for haptic feedback control (Ueshima [0041]-[0042]).
Conclusion
See the notice of references cited (PTO-892) for prior art made of record, including art that is not relied upon but considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/JITESH PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612
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