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 .
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 .
This Office Action has been issued in response to Applicant’s Communication of application S/N 18/893,736 filed on September 23, 2024. Claims 1 to 24 are currently pending with the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 7, 9 15, 17 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Alexander, IV et al, (US 2021/0097875) Published on Apr. 1, 2021.
As per Claims 1, 9 and 17, Alexander teaches A method comprising: at an electronic device in communication with one or more displays and one or more input devices: (See Para, 38, the wearable system 200 includes a display 220; as taught by Alexander)
while displaying, via the one or more displays, a virtual presentation launch user interface for receiving input to join a virtual presentation associated with a theater application within a three-dimensional environment, receiving a first input at the virtual presentation launch user interface to join the virtual presentation associated with the theater application; (see para.165 and fig.12, FIG. 12 illustrates an example user interface depicting a welcome screen… once a user selects whether they are the presenter, a participant, or a spectator, they may be transported to a virtual environment, also see para.162, [0162] …multiple users may wish to view a common virtual object…[0165] …welcome screen…[0166] …a presenter… join or create a room; as taught by Alexander)
and in response to receiving the first input, displaying the virtual presentation in the three-dimensional environment, (See para.35, describing the displaying of 3D images; as taught by Alexander)
wherein the virtual presentation is displayed in accordance with an audience viewpoint associated with the theater application. (See para.166, A user that joins as a participant… will be able to view…[0187] The individual view mode presents a close-up view… in front of their individual headsets. [0188] …places the panel at an offset relative to the current head pose of the user; as taught by Alexander)
As per Claims 7, 15 and 23, The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: while displaying the virtual presentation according to the audience viewpoint associated with the theater application, (See para.166, para.187 and para.188, participant view / panel in front of user; as taught by Alexander)
receiving an indication to display the virtual presentation in accordance with a presenter viewpoint associated with the theater application; (See para.181, para.192, para.199, and para.202, view select menu / detect view change input / transmit instructions to update views; as taught by Alexander)
and in response to receiving the indication to display the virtual presentation in accordance with the presenter viewpoint, (see Para.193 and para.202, transformed to selected view mode under presenter control as taught by Alexander)
ceasing display of the virtual presentation in accordance with the audience viewpoint and displaying the virtual presentation in accordance with the presenter viewpoint. (See para.193 and para.194, participants’ displays are automatically transformed to that selected view mode. return from one view mode to another; as taught by Alexander)
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.
Claim 2, 4-6, 8, 10-14, 16, 18, 20-22 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alexander, IV et al, (US 2021/0097875) Published on Apr. 1, 2021, in view of Amiri et al. (US 2021/0399910 ) Filed on June, 21, 2021.
As per Claims 2, 10 and 18, The method of claim 1, Alexander discloses wherein displaying the virtual presentation according to the audience viewpoint associated with the theater application comprises (See para.163, displaying based on a users view mode; as taught by Alexander)
: wherein the virtual stage is displayed in front of a perspective of a user of the electronic device; (See para.186, 187 and 188, “The individual view mode presents a close-up view of the panel 1520 in front of their individual headsets, places the panel at an offset… 0.75 m forward”; as taught by Alexander)
and displaying a plurality of representations of audience members of the virtual presentation within the three-dimensional environment, (See para.32, student attending an online class can perceive and interact with avatars of other students…[0190] …sphere avatars 1810…[0203] …include a plurality of avatars…”; as taught by Alexander)
wherein one or more of the plurality of representations of the audience members correspond to one or more participants of the virtual presentation, (See para190 and 203, avatars correspond to participant wearable systems/users; as taught by Alexander)
Alexander fails to teach displaying a virtual stage within the three-dimensional environment, and wherein the plurality of representations of the audience members are placed within the three-dimensional environment to one or more sides of the perspective of the user of the electronic device.
On the other hand Amiri teaches displaying a virtual stage within the three-dimensional environment, (See para.30, 31 and 77, “auditorium 300 includes central interface 310…” / “central interface 310 … may replicate placement of a physical stage…” / “central interface may output an electronic presentation”; as taught by Amiri)
and wherein the plurality of representations of the audience members are placed within the three-dimensional environment to one or more sides of the perspective of the user of the electronic device; (See para.31, seating corresponding to audience members around it in a ‘U’ shape arrangement; as taught by Amiri)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Alexander, by including the teachings of Amiri relating to the virtual reality display process to improve interaction and user reactions while reducing latency ( as taught by Amiri para.92)
As per Claims 4, 12 and 20, The method of claim 1, The combination of Alexander and Amiri teaches wherein the method further comprises: while displaying the virtual presentation according to the audience viewpoint associated with the theater application, (See para.166 and 180, participants view the presentation and can react; as taught by Alexander)
displaying an audience reaction user interface for selecting one or more reactions associated with the theater application. (See para.43, para.6, para.30 and para.31, “Emote selection module 410 includes various exemplary selectable options, The audience member can select emotes and auditorium/stage audience interface for electronic presentation)
As per Claims 5, 13 and 21, The method of claim 4, The combination of Alexander and Amiri teaches wherein the audience reaction user interface includes one or more visual indicators, (See para.43, Emote selection module 410 includes various exemplary selectable options; as taught by Amiri)
each visual indicator corresponding to one of the one or more reactions associated with the theater application, (See para.43, selectable emote options correspond to reactions) and wherein each visual indicator of the one or more visual indicators is configured to indicate an aggregated audience reaction for one of the one or more reactions to the virtual presentation. (See para.08 [0008] …aggregate the emotes into an aggregated emote; Para.0 generate a plurality of emote aggregations, Para.47 aggregates emotes Para, 74-81magnitude corresponds to the amount of emote)
As per Claims 6, 14 and 22, The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a second input, wherein the second input includes input from a first portion of the user; (See para.43, Responsive to selection of a selectable option… emote detection module 217 detects an emote; as taught by Amiri)
determining that the second input corresponds to a reaction of one or more reactions associated with the theater application; (See para.43, para.30 and para.31, emote selection is detected as an emote and audience interface with stage seating for presentation; as taught by Amiri) and in response to determining that the second input corresponds to the reaction of the one or more reactions associated with the theater application, applying the reaction corresponding to the second input to the virtual presentation; (See para,44, para.67 and para.79, Emote output module 218 outputs some or all detected emote, output within auditorium interface / output rendered animation for display; as taught by Amiri)
As per Claim 8, The method of claim 1, The combination of Alexander and Amiri wherein the method further comprises: while displaying the virtual presentation according to the audience viewpoint associated with the theater application, receiving an indication to display the virtual presentation in accordance with a questioner viewpoint associated with the theater application; (See para.51, wherein the viewing module can switch from audience view to a private viewing room based on a selection; as taught by Amiri)
and in response to receiving the indication to display the virtual presentation in accordance with the questioner viewpoint, ceasing display of the virtual presentation in accordance with the audience viewpoint and displaying the virtual presentation in accordance with the questioner viewpoint. (See para.51, wherein the viewing module can switch from audience view to a private viewing room based on a selection which ends one view and starts the other ; as taught by Amiri)
Claim 3, 11 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alexander, IV et al, (US 2021/0097875) Published on Apr. 1, 2021, in view of Amiri et al. (US 2021/0399910) Filed on June, 21, 2021 and further in view of Lagares-Greenblatt et al. (US 11,227,263) known hereafter as (Lagares) Date of patent Jan. 18, 2022
As per Claims 3, 11 and 19, The method of claim 2, The combination of Alexander and Amiri fails to teach wherein a first representation of the plurality of representations of the audience members corresponds to a first participant of the virtual presentation, wherein the user of the electronic device was engaged in a communication session with the first participant prior to the first input, wherein a second representation of the plurality of representations of the audience members corresponds to a second participant of the virtual presentation, wherein the user of the electronic device was not engaged in the communication session with the second participant prior to the first input, and wherein the first representation is displayed with a greater visual prominence than the second representation.
On the other hand Lagares teaches wherein a first representation of the plurality of representations of the audience members corresponds to a first participant of the virtual presentation, wherein the user of the electronic device was engaged in a communication session with the first participant prior to the first input, wherein a second representation of the plurality of representations of the audience members corresponds to a second participant of the virtual presentation, wherein the user of the electronic device was not engaged in the communication session with the second participant prior to the first input, (See col. 2, lines 46-64 wherein prior interaction between participants are detected, see col. 7, lines 55- col.8 , lines 12 describing a detection of no prior interactions between 2 participants ; as taught by Lagares) and wherein the first representation is displayed with a greater visual prominence than the second representation. (See col.5, lines 41-60 wherein visual enhancements with starts indicates level of prior interactions; as taught by Lagares)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Alexander and Amiri, by including the teachings of Lagares relating to automatic detection of prior interactions and enhancing the information presented based on this relationship to avoid manual process of such action, expedite and enhance the meeting experience (See col.2, lines 46-64)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHERIEF BADAWI whose telephone number is (571)272-9782. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:30pm, Alt Friday, EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Cordelia Zecher can be reached on 571-272-7771. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHERIEF BADAWI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2169
Prosecution Insights