DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to communications filed 10/22/2024:
Claims 1-20 are pending
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 Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 20 recites “the at least on sensor…” should be “the at least one sensor….”
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-6, 9-16, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Khaleghimeybodi et al (US20220201403, hereinafter “Khaleghimeybodi”).
Regarding claim 1, Khaleghimeybodi teaches a method (¶6, method) comprising:
detecting, by at least one microphone of an apparatus, at least one audio signal comprising audio content output from at least one speaker and other audio data from one or more other sources, or caused by the one or more other sources, wherein the other audio data comprises determined undesirable vibration noise causing distortion of the at least one audio signal (Fig. 2, sensory array for detecting sounds within a local area (¶57) and a transducer array configured to present audio content for the user (¶53, 56) and an optical microphone assembly 222 capable of detecting vibrations of the skin resulting from sounds in the local area (¶58); the vibrations resulting from the other sources in the local area can be considered noise and therefore cause distortion of the desired content (¶47, 72));
determining, by at least one sensor device of the apparatus, at least a subset of the other audio data based in part on determining at least one motion of a user of the apparatus, or motion of one or more other users (¶72, Fig. 2, the processing module 275 (in conjunction with the optical microphone/sensor) is capable of isolating and filtering out frequency components corresponding to motion noise); and
removing or reducing, based on the determined at least one subset of the other audio data, the determined undesirable vibration noise from the at least one audio signal to enable output of sound associated with a modification of the at least one audio signal (Fig. 2, ¶72, 80-82, processing module capable of isolating and filtering out frequency components corresponding to motion noise and further able to provide active noise cancellation by providing a modified output signal corresponding to the desired audio content).
Regarding claim 2, Khaleghimeybodi teaches further comprising:
causing output, by the at least one speaker or a second speaker, of the modification of the at least one audio signal being free from comprising the determined undesirable vibration noise, or comprises a reduction in noise of the determined undesirable vibration noise (Fig. 2, ¶72, 80-82, processing module capable of isolating and filtering out frequency components corresponding to motion noise and further able to provide active noise cancellation by providing a modified output signal corresponding to the desired audio content).
Regarding claim 3, Khaleghimeybodi teaches further comprising:
determining that the subset of the other data comprises at least one of a self-voice of a voice of the user or the one or more other users, or one or more items of body noise associated with one or more detected movements of one or more body parts of the user or the one or more other users (Fig. 2, ¶72, 80-82, processing module capable of isolating and filtering out frequency components corresponding to motion noise and further able to provide active noise cancellation by providing a modified output signal corresponding to the desired audio content; ¶26, the microphone array is also able to detect sounds in the local area including the user’s own voice or sounds from other sources (for cancellation and/or enhancement)).
Regarding claim 4, Khaleghimeybodi teaches further comprising:
determining that the subset of the other data comprises one or more items of environment noise associated with a background of a real world environment that the user is located within (¶47, 81, detecting sound sources can include background noises in the environment).
Regarding claim 5, Khaleghimeybodi teaches further comprising:
determining that the at least one sensor device is located within a predetermined distance to a location of the at least one microphone (Fig. 2, all modules are mounted in place on the head mounted device).
Regarding claim 6, Khaleghimeybodi teaches wherein the apparatus comprises at least one of an artificial reality device, a head-mounted display, or smart glasses (Figs. 1A-1B, head-mounted device).
Regarding claim 9, Khaleghimeybodi teaches wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of an inertial measurement unit or an accelerometer (¶49, inertial measurement unit (IMU)).
Regarding claim 10, Khaleghimeybodi teaches wherein the at least one audio signal is associated with a conversation of the user with the one or more other users (¶25, 84, the detected sound sources can include user’s own voice and other people).
Regarding claims 11-16, they are rejected similarly as claims 1-6, respectively. The apparatus can be found in Khaleghimeybodi (abstract, system).
Regarding claim 19, Khaleghimeybodi teaches a method (¶6, method) comprising:
detecting, by at least one microphone of an apparatus, at least one audio signal comprising audio content output from at least one speaker and other audio data from one or more other sources, or caused by the one or more other sources, wherein the other audio data comprises determined undesirable vibration noise causing distortion of the at least one audio signal (Fig. 2, sensory array for detecting sounds within a local area (¶57) and a transducer array configured to present audio content for the user (¶53, 56) and an optical microphone assembly 222 capable of detecting vibrations of the skin resulting from sounds in the local area (¶58); the vibrations resulting from the other sources in the local area can be considered noise and therefore cause distortion of the desired content (¶47, 72));
determining, by at least one sensor device of the apparatus, at least one anti-vibration signal (¶116, active noise cancellation being performed); and
applying the at least one anti-vibration signal to the determined undesirable vibration noise to remove, or reduce, the determined undesirable vibration noise from the at least one audio signal to enable output of sound associated with a modification of the at least one audio signal (Fig. 2, ¶72, 80-82, processing module capable of isolating and filtering out frequency components corresponding to motion noise and further able to provide active noise cancellation by providing a modified output signal corresponding to the desired audio content).
Regarding claim 20, Khaleghimeybodi teaches wherein, the at least on sensor comprises at least one of an audio band shaker or a transducer (¶81, modified output comprises the desired output in conjunction with the cancellation/suppression signal).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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(s) 7 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khaleghimeybodi et al (US20220201403, hereinafter “Khaleghimeybodi”) in view of Painter et al (US20250104687, hereinafter “Painter”).
Regarding claim 7, Khaleghimeybodi fails to explicitly teach wherein:
the removing, or the reducing, of the determined undesirable vibration noise comprises minimizing distortion, interference, or jitter associated with one or more other sensors of the apparatus.
Painter teaches wherein:
the removing, or the reducing, of the determined undesirable vibration noise comprises minimizing distortion, interference, or jitter associated with one or more other sensors of the apparatus (¶34, 42, Fig. 3, parasitic vibrations can cause undesired vibrations on one or more other sensors and therefore the invention seeks to minimize the undesired vibrations on the other sensors).
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 head-mounted audio system (as taught by Khaleghimeybodi) with the parasitic vibration reduction system (as taught by Painter). The rationale to do so is to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of improving sensing accuracies by reducing parasitic vibrations (Painter, ¶42).
Regarding claim 17, it is rejected similarly as claim 7. The apparatus can be found in Khaleghimeybodi (abstract, system).
Claim(s) 8 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khaleghimeybodi et al (US20220201403, hereinafter “Khaleghimeybodi”) in view of Qin et al (US20220335924, hereinafter “Qin”).
Regarding claim 8, Khaleghimeybodi fails to explicitly teach wherein the distortion comprises audio feedback.
Qin teaches wherein the distortion comprises audio feedback (¶14, Fig. 12, an error microphone for capturing a noise signal in the user’s ears and processed by a feedback filter for noise cancellation).
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 feedback filter technique (as taught by Qin) with the audio system (as taught by Khaleghimeybodi). The rationale to do so is to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable and known results such as noise cancellation.
Regarding claim 18, it is rejected similarly as claim 8. The apparatus can be found in Khaleghimeybodi (abstract, system).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to PTO-892, Notice of References Cited for a listing of analogous art.
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/QIN ZHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
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