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 Status
Claims 34-66 are pending for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Regarding claim 35, recites the limitation “receive data indicative of vehicle riding parameters; receive image data indicative of behavioral parameters” in lines 2-3. The limitation is indefinite because it is unclear what devices / sensors are being used to obtain those parameters.
The limitation “the image data” in lines 4-5 is indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation is referring to the “image data indicative of behavioral parameters” in claim 35 or “image of the rider” in claim 34.
Regarding claims 39 and 45, are also rejected because they depend on claim 35.
Regarding claims 38 and 57, recites the limitation “categorize the rider's emotions as very weak, weak, strong, and very strong. The limitation includes relative terms which renders the claim indefinite. The terms “very weak”, “weak”, “strong”, and “very strong” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Regarding claim 54, recites the limitation “receive, by the processor, data indicative of vehicle riding parameters” in line 2. The limitation is indefinite because it is unclear what device / sensor is being used to obtain the riding parameters.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 34-38, 46-57, 60 and 62-66 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lisy (Pat. No.: US 9,579,060 B1) in view Marvit (Pub. No.: US 2014/0067801 A1).
Regarding claim 34, Lisy teaches a headgear (abstract, Col. 11, line 3-9, “Headgear is defined generally as anything worn about the head, but excluding articles which are applied only to the face. Certain eyewear that wraps around the head, such as traditional glasses and goggles, but excluding pince-nez and monocles, are to be considered headgear. Headgear further includes hats, helmets, and masks that fit about the head.”. A head-mounted device that includes a headgear) comprising:
a shell comprising a shell exterior and a shell interior (Fig. 5A - 5G, Fig. 8 – Fig. 9. The headgear has a shell or housing.);
a visor connected to the shell (See Fig. 5A - 5G, show the headgear includes a display visor);
an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor disposed in the shell interior and configured to generate a first signal indicative of state of a brain of a rider (Fig. 5A -5C, and Fig. 9, dry sensor 54, 91 and Col. 13 line 36-39, “The dry physiological electrode sensors of the present invention can be used in a variety of applications including for measuring various biopotentials including but not limited to ECG, electroencephalogram (EEG),” and Fig. 5C, Col. 50 line 1 – 6, “If necessary additional frame housing 58 may be provided to house sensor(s),”. The various sensors are housed by the headgear);
a blood sensor disposed in the shell interior and configured to generate a second signal indicative of blood flow rate in the rider's brain (Col. 26 line 56 – Col. 27 line 57. The headgear includes near infrared sensors for measuring the blood flow and blood volume, and a heart rate sensor for measuring heart rate. The blood flow, bloom volume and heart rate are indicative of the blood flow rate.);
an image sensor disposed in the shell interior and configured to capture an image of the rider and generate image data (Col. 34 line 59 - Col. 35 line 2, “A basic eye tracking sensor may consist of only a single video camera which is able to determine, to within an acceptable degree of accuracy, where the eye(s) of a subject is/are looking, by, for example using an image matching algorithm or neural net algorithm to determine if eyes are pointed straight toward the camera or at some angle away from the camera.”); and
a processor (Fig. 5C, Col. 50 line 1 – 6, “If necessary additional frame housing 58 may be provided to house sensor(s), processor(s), actuator(s), and associated electronics (for amplification, processing, and transmission of collected signals, for the subject's interfacing with the eyewear device,”) configured to:
receive the first signal from the EEG sensor;
receive the second signal from the PPG sensor (Fig. 13, step 133);
receive the image data from the image sensor ();
determine an attention score of the rider based on the first signal, the second signal, and the image data, the attention score indicative of a drowsiness level of the rider (Fig. 13 steps 135-136, Col. 39 line 66- Col. 40 line 12, “Alertness is a measurement derived from signals of the various sensors that relates to the subject's level of focus, consciousness (similar to detecting sleep stage), awareness of the surroundings, and attention to a particular activity, task, object, or other such focal point. For example, an alertness metric allows the system or device of the present invention to determine whether the subject is daydreaming or otherwise losing focus on a particular task at hand, such as driving, reading, or working. Alertness can be derived from a single sensor measurement, such as an EEG, but in most instances is best determined by a combination and fusion of multiple sensor measurements, for example EEG in combination with eye tracking, though other combinations may work as well.”, and Col 48 line 59-64 “FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention consisting of sensors implemented in wireless earbuds 42 useful for detecting whether the subject is drowsy or alert, focused or unfocused during an occupational task such as driving a vehicle or operating dangerous machinery such as heavy construction equipment or factory equipment. … Although FIG. 4 shows earbuds 42, it is envisioned that any of the headgear or eyewear embodiments may be implemented to similar effect in a drowsy-driver, impaired-driver, or distracted-driver warning system.”. The sensors measurements are collected by the processor and fused together to derive a metric for the user’s alertness or drowsiness); and
generate an alert signal when the attention score is below a pre-defined threshold value (Fig. 13, steps 137a-137e, outputs alert if the sleepiness or drowsiness exceeds a low threshold.).
Lisy teaches a headgear that includes various types of sensors to monitor the alertness or drowsiness of a user but fails to expressly teach the use of a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor.
However, in the same field of alertness detection, Marvit teaches the user of a combination of sensors that includes PPG, EEG and eye tracking sensors to detect drowsiness. See para [0017], “For example, the drowsiness may be determined as measure by a variety of biological function including HRV, blink rate, eye tracking and eyelid occlusion. The data sensor system 102 may include, for example, a photoplethysmograph (PPG), electrocardiogram (ECG), an electromyogram (EMG), an electroencephalogram (EEG),”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify one of Lisy’s sensors with a PPG sensor to improve detection accuracy.
Regarding claim 35, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, wherein the processor is configured to:
receive data indicative of vehicle riding parameters (Col. 35 line 23-59, “For example, through analysis of collected motion sensor and/or GPS data, it can be determined that a subject has woken up, set out on a run, begun a bicycle trip, begun a long drive in a motor vehicle, or the like. … Given the start point and the end point of the routine/activity/task, the system or device may then, through appropriate subtraction, compute or estimate the length in time of the routine/activity/task. Like the other values discussed in this application, this value may be stored, charted, reported, and/or used to provide notices or warnings to the subject.”. The duration of the drive.);
receive image data indicative of behavioral parameters (Col. 35, line 2- 8, “In certain applications it may be acceptable for such sensor to be only sensitive enough to make a binary determination (e.g., to determine only whether or not the subject has his or her eyes on the road, and thus to keep statistics of the amount of time the eyes are on the road and from such statistics make a determination of distracted or drowsy driving).”); and
determine attention score of the rider based on the first signal, the second signal, the image data, and the vehicle riding parameters (Fig. 13, fuse data from various sensors to derive a metric for alertness or drowsiness).
Regarding claim 36, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, wherein the processor comprises a machine learning module configured to:
correlate the first signal, the second signal, and the image data; and
generate the attention score (Fig. 13, step 136, Col. 40 line 7-12, “Alertness can be derived from a single sensor measurement, such as an EEG, but in most instances is best determined by a combination and fusion of multiple sensor measurements, for example EEG in combination with eye tracking, though other combinations may work as well.”. The headgear derives the alertness metric from a fusion of multiple sensor measurements obtained from EEG, PPG and eye tracking sensors.).
Regarding claim 37, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 36, wherein the machine learning module is configured to:
correlate the first signal, the second signal, the image data and vehicle riding parameters; and
generate the attention score (Fig. 13, step 136, Col. 40 line 7-12, “Alertness can be derived from a single sensor measurement, such as an EEG, but in most instances is best determined by a combination and fusion of multiple sensor measurements, for example EEG in combination with eye tracking, though other combinations may work as well.”. The headgear derives the alertness metric from a fusion of multiple sensor measurements obtained from EEG, PPG, eye tracking and time sensors.).
Regarding claim 38, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 36, wherein the machine learning module is configured to:
determine rider's emotions; and
categorize the rider's emotions as very weak, weak, strong, and very strong (Col. 25 line 44-49, “Galvanic skin response sensors measure the recorded electrical resistance between two electrodes when a very weak current is steadily passed between them. The sensors are normally placed a short distance apart, and the resistance recorded varies in accordance with the emotional state of the subject.”. The emotional state is categorized by the resistance of the electrodes. For instance, very higher resistance indicates very strong emotion.).
Regarding claim 46, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, wherein the EEG sensor is disposed in vicinity of a prefrontal cortex region of a head of the rider (Fig 5A – 5G, Figs. 8-9, the sensor electrodes 54, 81 are located in the vicinity of the wearer’s forehead).
Regarding claim 47, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, wherein the PPG sensor is disposed in vicinity of a middle portion of a forehead of the rider (Fig 5A – 5G, Figs. 8-9, the sensor electrodes 54, 81 are located in the vicinity of the wearer’s forehead).
Regarding claim 48, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, wherein the image sensor is disposed adjacent to the visor (Col. 8 line 61-64, “Preferably, the method also includes the step of collecting EOG signals from the subject with dry electrodes placed along the stems nearer to the eyes of the subject.”. Place the eye tracker / dry electrodes near the eyes of the wearer.).
Regarding claim 49, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, wherein the PPG sensor is configured to measure the blood flow rate using low intensity infrared light (Col. 27, line 19-34, “The application in functional mapping of the human cortex is called diffuse optical tomography (DOT), near-infrared imaging (NIRI) or functional NIRS (fNIR). … whereas NIRS provides quantitative data in absolute terms on up to a few specific points. The latter is also used to investigate other tissues such as, e.g., muscle, breast and tumors. NIRS can be used to quantify blood flow, blood volume, oxygen consumption, reoxygenation rates and muscle recovery time in muscle.”. Use infrared sensor are used to measure blood flow and blood volume.).
Regarding claim 50, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, wherein the EEG sensor is configured to measure a voltage difference between an active point and a reference point (Fig. 5A and Fig. 9, dry sensor 54, 91 and Col. 13 line 36-39, “The dry physiological electrode sensors of the present invention can be used in a variety of applications including for measuring various biopotentials including but not limited to ECG, electroencephalogram (EEG),”. The use of same structure (e.g., EEG sensor) inherently anticipates the same functionalities.).
Regarding claim 51, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, further comprising an audio device (Fig. 5A, soundspeaker 52) connected to the processor and is configured to:
receive the alert signal from the processor; and
generate a sound to alert the rider (Fig. 13, step 137a-137d, Col. 49 line 62-64, “If earbuds 52 are incorporated, or if another audio device is present nearby, audio notifications or warnings may be delivered as well.”. The processor outputs an audible alert in response to low alertness detected.).
Regarding claim 52, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, further comprising a haptic device connected to the processor and is configured to:
receive the alert signal from the processor; and
generate a haptic feedback to alert the rider (Col. 52 line 50 – 67, “As already described in this disclosure, in various embodiments, preferably, the device or system of the present invention derives metrics indicative of one or more of heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration rate, stress, sleep cycle, alertness, concentration, focus, preparedness, calorimetry, or metabolism using one or more of dry electrodes, body temperature sensors, ambient temperature sensors, galvanic skin response sensors, pulse oximetry sensors, near infrared sensors, GPS sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, altimeters, pressure sensors, proximity sensors, audio sensors, video sensors, eye tracking sensors, time sensors, data input by the subject, or data sourced from an external database or the Internet, and subsequently supplies a signal, notification, warning, enticement, encouragement, comfort change, plan, or program to the subject using one or more of soundspeakers, video screens, computer interfaces, user interfaces, haptics actuators, shock stimulators, light emitters, temperature actuators, or ear pressure equalizers.”. The processor outputs a haptic alert in response to low alertness detected.).
Regarding claim 53, recites a method for the headgear of claim 34. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 54, recites a method for the headgear of claim 35. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 55, recites a method for the headgear of claim 36. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 56, recites a method for the headgear of claim 37. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 57, recites a method for the headgear of claim 38. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 60, Lisy in the combination teaches the method according to claim 53, further comprising transmitting, by a communication module, signals from the EEG sensor, the PPG sensor, and the image sensor to the processor (Col. 10 line 66 – Col. 11 line 2, “In many embodiments the present invention consists of one or more of the following wearables having one or more of the following sensors coupled to a processor and one or more of the following actuators.”).
Regarding claim 62, Lisy in the combination teaches the method according to claim 60, further comprising transmitting and receiving, by the communication module, signals using Bluetooth protocol (Col. 48 line 13-18, “In such embodiments, or in other embodiments in which there is no wire 14, the earbuds preferably communicate with each other and/or with another device using a wireless protocol such as Bluetooth or WiFi to transmit digital audio and acquired sensor measurements.”).
Regarding claim 63, recites a method for the headgear of claim 49. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 64, recites a method for the headgear of claim 50. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 65, recites a method for the headgear of claim 51. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 66, recites a method for the headgear of claim 52. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Claims 40-44, 58-59 and 61 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lisy (Pat. No.: US 9,579,060 B1) in view Marvit (Pub. No.: US 2014/0067801 A1) as applied to claim 34, and further in view of Brennan (Pat. No.: US 7,602,307 B1).
Regarding claim 40, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 34, configured to:
receive the first signal, the second signal, and the image data; and
transmit amplified first signal, amplified second signal and amplified image data (Fig. 13, step 134, pre-process the received sensor signals by performing amplification).
Lisy fails to expressly teach an Analog Front End (AFE) device; and
a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) in communication with the AFE, the AFE device configured to: receive the signals, and transmit amplified signals to the DSP.
However, in the same field of detection device, Brennan teaches an analog amplifier 204 that is configured to amplify the received signal before transmission to the DSP chip as shown in Fig. 2. See Col. 7 line 40-44, “As provided in FIG. 2, the lock-in amplifier 200 comprises a digital potentiometer 202, an amplifier 204, an anti-aliasing filter 205 (a 10th order elliptical filter), an analog to digital converter 206, and a DSP chip which comprises elements 203 and 207-214.”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lisy’s pre-processing circuity to include an analog amplifier to amplify the received sensor signals and to transmit the amplified signals to a DSP to improve detection accuracy.
Regarding claim 41, Brennan in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 40, wherein the DSP is communicatively coupled with the processor and is configured to:
receive the amplified first signal, the amplified second signal, and the amplified image data;
compare the amplified first signal, the amplified second signal, and the amplified image data with respective predetermined frequency range; and
transmit the amplified first signal, the amplified second signal, and the amplified image data within the predetermined frequency range to the processor (Fig. 2 and Col. 8 line 7-11, “The result of this calculation is sent though a 2000th order FIR low pass filter 210 to yield the final digital output signal, which is then transferred to a data collector,”. The DSP chip filters the amplified signal before transmission).
Regarding claim 42, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 40, further comprising a communication module configured to allow transmission of signals from the EEG sensor, the PPG sensor, and the image sensor to the processor (Col. 10 line 66 – Col. 11 line 2, “In many embodiments the present invention consists of one or more of the following wearables having one or more of the following sensors coupled to a processor and one or more of the following actuators.”).
Regarding claim 43, the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 42, wherein the communication module is configured to allow transmission of signals from the EEG sensor, the PPG sensor, and the image sensor to the AFE device (Fig. 13, the sensors transmit measurement signals for pre-processing. Pre-processing includes signal amplification).
Regarding claim 44, Lisy in the combination teaches the headgear according to claim 42, wherein the communication module is configured to transmit and receive signals using Bluetooth protocol (Col. 48 line 13-18, “In such embodiments, or in other embodiments in which there is no wire 14, the earbuds preferably communicate with each other and/or with another device using a wireless protocol such as Bluetooth or WiFi to transmit digital audio and acquired sensor measurements.”).
Regarding claim 58, recites a method for the headgear of claim 40. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 59, recites a method for the headgear of claim 41. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Regarding claim 61, recites a method for the headgear of claim 43. Therefore, the claim is rejected for the same reason.
Examiner’s Remarks
Claims 39 and 45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112 solely due to their dependency from a rejected base claim but these claims are not subject to prior art rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102 or § 103.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ghaffarzadegan (Pub. No.: US 2021/0195981 A1) teaches a system and method for monitoring the attentive of a rider based on measurements from EEG sensors, physiological sensors, riding pattern sensor and others.
Kruger (Pub. No.: US 2016/0167672 A1) teaches a system and method for measuring a rider response to an environment and to provide alerts.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHEN Y WU whose telephone number is (571)272-5711. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10AM-6PM, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached at 571-272-3114. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZHEN Y WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
