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 .
Response to Arguments
Claims 1 and 3-20 are pending and the examiner agrees with the applicant that the prior art doesn’t teach:
determining a transformation matrix based on the matching pairs in the target region of the two consecutive frames of original images;
calculating an average projection error for each of the non-target regions of the two consecutive frames of the original image based on the matching pairs in the non-target region and the transformation matrix;
determining, for each of the non-target regions of the two consecutive original images, whether the non-target region is a moving-object region, by comparing the average projection error with a threshold; and
replacing, for each original image, the non-target regions determined as the moving- object regions with a featureless solid color region, to obtain a sequence of static images.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1 and 3-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 1 is directed to a moving-object elimination method for 3D modeling comprising the steps of: detecting, dividing, determining, determining, obtaining, determining, calculating, determining and replacing which are nothing more than software instructions.
Software instructions are non-statutory under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claims 3-10 depend from claim 1 and comprise additional steps, for example claim 4 comprises the steps of using, calculating and calculating therefore claims 3-10 have the same problem as claim 1 and are rejected under the same rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 11-20, the prior art doesn’t teach:
11. (Currently Amended) A computer program product for 3D modeling, stored in a non- transitory computer-readable storage medium and executable by a processing device, the computer program product comprising: a user interface module, for providing a user interface; a 3D modeling module, for creating a 3D model; and a moving-object elimination module, for executing the moving-object elimination method as claimed in claim 1; wherein when the computer program product is loaded into a computer, the computer is capable of executing the following steps: obtaining a sequence of original images; in response to receiving a moving-object elimination instruction from the user interface, calling the moving-object elimination module to execute the moving-object elimination method, and driving the 3D modeling module to use the sequence of static images obtained by executing the moving-object elimination method to create the 3D model; and in response to receiving a direct modeling instruction from the user interface, driving the 3D modeling module to use the sequence of original images to create the 3D model.
12. (Original) The computer program product as claimed in claim 11, wherein the user interface is a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting a region segmentation result of the region segmentation process and enabling the user of the computer to select the target region on the segmentation result.
13. (Original) The computer program product as claimed in claim 11, wherein the moving-object elimination module further detects an area proportion of the moving-object region in the sequence of original images, and checks number of the original images in the original image sequence that are determined to be without the moving-object regions; in response to the area proportion of the moving-object region in the sequence of original images exceeding a first specified threshold, and the number of the original images in the original image sequence that are determined to be without moving-object regions being below a second specified threshold, the moving-object elimination module notifies the user interface module to present an exception message in the user interface.
14. (Currently Amended) A computer program product for 3D modeling, stored in a non- transitory computer-readable storage medium and executable by a processing device, when loaded into a computer, provides a graphical user interface (GUI) which includes: an image importing section, enabling a user to input a specified path to import an original image sequence; a moving-object elimination section, enabling the user to input an elimination instruction; and a modeling section, enabling the user to input a modeling instruction; wherein in response to receiving the elimination instruction, the computer program product causes the computer to execute a moving-object elimination method as claimed in claim 1 on the original image sequence to obtain a static image sequence; and wherein in response to receiving the modeling instruction, the computer program product causes the computer to select, based on the elimination instruction, either the original image sequence or the static image sequence, for use in creating a 3D model.
15. (Original) The computer program product as claimed in claim 14, wherein the graphical user interface further includes an elimination progress display section, for presenting a processing progress of the moving-object elimination method.
16. (Original) The non-transitory computer program product as claimed in claim 14, wherein the graphical user interface further includes a target region selection section, presenting a region segmentation result and enabling the user to select a target region on the region segmentation result.
17. (Original) The computer program product as claimed in claim 14, wherein the graphical user interface further includes an image display section, presenting the original image sequence, the static image sequence, or both.
18. (Currently Amended) The computer program product as claimed in claim 14, wherein the graphical user interface further includes an elimination result display part; in response to [[the]]an area proportion of a moving-object region in the original image sequence exceeding a first specified threshold, and [[the]] number of the original images in the original image sequence that are determined to be without moving-object regions being below a second specified threshold, the elimination result display section presents an exception message; and in response to obtaining the static image sequence, the elimination result display section presents a success message.
19. (Original) The computer program product as claimed in claim 18, wherein after the exception message is presented, the graphical user interface further includes a manual elimination section, enabling the user to manually eliminate the moving objects.
20. (Original) The computer program product as claimed in claim 18, wherein the exception message is configured to guide the user to add more original images to the original image sequence.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
HONG SEONG HUN (KR20230064205A) discloses an obstacle detection device and using sonar images and a method thereof. The obstacle detection device using sonar images of the present invention includes: an image input unit which receives sonar images from the forward-looking sonar; a control unit which extracts objects by filtering the sonar images input from the image input unit, and at the same time, geometrically verifies position coordinates for the extracted objects by matching pairwise images based on feature points between consecutive image pairs for each frame of the filtered sonar images; and an output unit which outputs the verified object from the control unit.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAURICE L MCDOWELL, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-3707. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 2pm-10pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Said A. Broome can be reached at 571-272-2931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MAURICE L. MCDOWELL, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612
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