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 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Viehauser, US PGPUB 20240289975 in view of Friesen, US PGPUB 20110205242.
As to claim 1, Viehauser discloses an electronic apparatus for supporting interaction between a virtual environment and a real world (e.g., extended reality system 200, fig. 2),
the electronic apparatus comprising: Memory (memory 820, fig. 8); and
a controller configured to determine an interaction state for a physical object in a real world and provide a virtual environment according to a blending technique selected based on determination results ([0022] Extended reality (XR) systems or devices can provide virtual content to a user and/or can combine real-world or physical environments and virtual environments (made up of virtual content) to provide users with XR experiences),
wherein the controller is configured to determine the interaction state by tracking a movement of at least one of a user, a user's hand, and an object, and by tracking at least one of (i) an interaction between the user and the object, (ii) an interaction between the user's hand and the object, and (iii) an interaction between a plurality of objects ([0022] In some cases, an XR system can track parts of the user (e.g., a hand and/or fingertips of a user) to allow the user to interact with items of virtual content).
Viehauser does not explicitly disclose a controller configured to determine an interaction state for a physical object in a real world.
However, in the same endeavor, Friesen discloses a controller configured to determine an interaction state for a physical object in a real world ([0072] Referring now to FIG. 5, with interacting device 108 functioning as a drawing tool, user 200 may begin to apply various virtual design elements to proxy 210. In this embodiment, user 200 may drag interacting device 108 against the surface of proxy 210 to create virtual line 502).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to modify the disclosure of Viehauser, to further include Friesen’s physical object interaction method, in order to improve the usage of the device with intention of activating desired function effectively.
As to claim 10, Viehauser discloses a method of supporting interaction between a virtual environment and a real world, the method being performed by an electronic apparatus (e.g., extended reality system 200, fig. 2),
the method comprising: determining an interaction state for a physical object in a real world ([0026] The see-through display can allow the user to see a real-world or physical object directly, and can display (e.g., projected or otherwise displayed) an enhanced image of that object or additional AR content to augment the user's visual perception of the real world); and
providing a virtual environment according to a blending technique selected based on determination results ([0022] Extended reality (XR) systems or devices can provide virtual content to a user and/or can combine real-world or physical environments and virtual environments (made up of virtual content) to provide users with XR experiences),
wherein the interaction state is determined by tracking a movement of at least one of a user, a user's hand, and an object, and by tracking at least one of (i) an interaction between the user and the object, (ii) an interaction between the user's hand and the object, and (iii) an interaction between a plurality of objects ([0022] In some cases, an XR system can track parts of the user (e.g., a hand and/or fingertips of a user) to allow the user to interact with items of virtual content).
Viehauser does not explicitly disclose a controller configured to determine an interaction state for a physical object in a real world.
However, in the same endeavor, Friesen discloses a controller configured to determine an interaction state for a physical object in a real world ([0072] Referring now to FIG. 5, with interacting device 108 functioning as a drawing tool, user 200 may begin to apply various virtual design elements to proxy 210. In this embodiment, user 200 may drag interacting device 108 against the surface of proxy 210 to create virtual line 502).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to modify the disclosure of Viehauser, to further include Friesen’s physical object interaction method, in order to improve the usage of the device with intention of activating desired function effectively.
18. (Currently Amended) A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to execute a method of supporting interaction between a virtual environment and a real world (Viehouser, [0006] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided that has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: obtain a plurality of images captured by a camera of a device),
the method comprising: determining an interaction state for a physical object in a real world (e.g., extended reality system 200, fig. 2); and
providing a virtual environment according to a blending technique selected based on determination results ([0022] Extended reality (XR) systems or devices can provide virtual content to a user and/or can combine real-world or physical environments and virtual environments (made up of virtual content) to provide users with XR experiences),
wherein the interaction state is determined by tracking a movement of at least one of a user, a user's hand, and an object, and by tracking at least one of (i) an interaction between the user and the object, (ii) an interaction between the user's hand and the object, and (iii) an interaction between a plurality of objects ([0022] In some cases, an XR system can track parts of the user (e.g., a hand and/or fingertips of a user) to allow the user to interact with items of virtual content).
Viehauser does not explicitly disclose a controller configured to determine an interaction state for a physical object in a real world.
However, in the same endeavor, Friesen discloses a controller configured to determine an interaction state for a physical object in a real world ([0072] Referring now to FIG. 5, with interacting device 108 functioning as a drawing tool, user 200 may begin to apply various virtual design elements to proxy 210. In this embodiment, user 200 may drag interacting device 108 against the surface of proxy 210 to create virtual line 502).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to modify the disclosure of Viehauser, to further include Friesen’s physical object interaction method, in order to improve the usage of the device with intention of activating desired function effectively.
As to claim 2, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the electronic apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses the controller determines a type of physical object, and selects one of a perceive state, an approach state and a manipulate state when the physical object is a target object and selects one of a perceive state and an avoid state when the physical object is a non-target object (Friesen, [0078] User 200 may select a color from color palette 802 by pointing interacting device 108 at the desired color. In this embodiment, user 200 may select color 804 from color palette 802. This has the effect of changing the color of proxy 210 to color 804).
As to claim 3, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the electronic apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses the controller determines whether the interaction state for the physical object is a simple manipulate state or a complex manipulate state among detailed states of the manipulate state (Viehauser, [0063] For example, prediction engine(s) 222 may use a machine-learning model to predict a pose of display 209 (e.g., corresponding to a head pose of a user of the XR system 200) using data output by accelerometer 204, gyroscope 206, and/or image sensor 202).
As to claim 4, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the electronic apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses the blending technique is any one of Virtual Proxy, Affordance Contour, Pass-Through, and Boundary Box (Friesen, e.g., proxy 210, fig. 2).
As to claim 5, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the electronic apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses the controller overlays an affordance contour on an object for which the physical object has been processed into a virtual proxy when the interaction state is one of an approach state and a simple manipulate state (Friesen, [0072] In particular, virtual line 502 is displayed on a portion of screen 240 such that user 200 sees virtual line 502 as being disposed on top of proxy 210).
As to claim 6, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the electronic apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses the controller overlays an affordance contour on an object for which the physical object has been processed into a virtual proxy, and visually processes a grasping or manipulating area on the object processed into the virtual proxy (Friesen, [0072] In particular, virtual line 502 is displayed on a portion of screen 240 such that user 200 sees virtual line 502 as being disposed on top of proxy 210).
As to claim 7, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the electronic apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses the controller overlays an affordance contour on a virtual object corresponding to the physical object when a distance between the physical object and a user is closer than a predetermined value, and deactivates the affordance contour overlay when the distance is equal to or farther than the predetermined value (Friesen, [0063] Moreover, as previously discussed, imaging device 106 may be used to track the motion of interacting device 108. With this arrangement, user 200 may be able to manipulate one or more virtual images using interacting device 108).
As to claim 8, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the electronic apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses the controller determines a non-target object, located within a predetermined radius from the physical object, to be in an avoid state when it is determined that the physical object is in a manipulate state (Friesen, [0061] In the current embodiment, proxy 210 may be blank without any markings. However, in other embodiments, to facilitate designing an article, proxy 210 could include various types of markings that indicate the approximate locations of various footwear features).
As to claim 9, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the electronic apparatus of claim 8. The combination further discloses the controller applies a boundary box to the non- target object that is determined to be in the avoid state (Friesen, [0081] In some cases, color palette 902 may appear as user 200 selects toe portion 211 using interactive device 108. In some cases, toe portion 211 may be highlighted using virtual boundary 910).
As to claim 11, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the method of claim 10. The combination further discloses determining the interaction state comprises: determining a type of physical object; and selecting one of a perceive state, an approach state and a manipulate state when the physical object is a target object, and selecting one of a perceive state and an avoid state when the physical object is a non-target object (Friesen, [0078] User 200 may select a color from color palette 802 by pointing interacting device 108 at the desired color. In this embodiment, user 200 may select color 804 from color palette 802. This has the effect of changing the color of proxy 210 to color 804).
As to claim 12, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the electronic apparatus of claim 10. The combination further discloses determining the interaction state comprises determining whether the interaction state for the physical object is a simple manipulate state or a complex manipulate state among detailed states of the manipulate state (Viehauser, [0063] For example, prediction engine(s) 222 may use a machine-learning model to predict a pose of display 209 (e.g., corresponding to a head pose of a user of the XR system 200) using data output by accelerometer 204, gyroscope 206, and/or image sensor 202).
As to claim 13, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the method of claim 10. The combination further discloses providing the virtual environment comprises overlaying an affordance contour on an object for which the physical object has been processed into a virtual proxy when the interaction state is one of an approach state and a simple manipulate state (Friesen, e.g., proxy 210, fig. 2).
As to claim 14, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the method of claim 10. The combination further discloses providing the virtual environment comprises: overlaying an affordance contour on an object for which the physical object has been processed into a virtual proxy; and visually processing a grasping or manipulating area on the object processed into the virtual proxy (Friesen, [0072] In particular, virtual line 502 is displayed on a portion of screen 240 such that user 200 sees virtual line 502 as being disposed on top of proxy 210).
As to claim 15, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the method of claim 10. The combination further discloses providing the virtual environment comprises: overlaying an affordance contour on a virtual object corresponding to the physical object when a distance between the physical object and a user is closer than a predetermined value; and 15 deactivating the affordance contour overlay when the distance is equal to or farther than the predetermined value (Friesen, [0072] In particular, virtual line 502 is displayed on a portion of screen 240 such that user 200 sees virtual line 502 as being disposed on top of proxy 210).
As to claim 16, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the method of claim 10. The combination further discloses determining the interaction state comprises determining a non-target object, located within a predetermined radius from the physical object, to be in an avoid state when it is determined that the physical object is in a manipulate state (Friesen, [0063] Moreover, as previously discussed, imaging device 106 may be used to track the motion of interacting device 108. With this arrangement, user 200 may be able to manipulate one or more virtual images using interacting device 108).
As to claim 17, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses the method of claim 16. The combination further discloses providing the virtual environment comprises applying a boundary box to the non-target object that is determined to be in the avoid state (Friesen, [0081] In some cases, color palette 902 may appear as user 200 selects toe portion 211 using interactive device 108. In some cases, toe portion 211 may be highlighted using virtual boundary 910).
As to claim 18, the combination of Viehouser and Friesen discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to execute the method set forth in claim 10 (Viehouser, [0006] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided that has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: obtain a plurality of images captured by a camera of a device).
19. (Cancelled)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Karmi, US PGPUB 20230410378 discloses a user persona management systems and techniques are described. A system identifies a profile associated with a first user. The profile includes data defining avatars that each represent the first user and conditions for displaying respective avatars. The system determines, based on characteristics associated with the first user, that at least a first condition is met. The system selects, based on determining that at least the first condition is met, a display avatar of the avatars. The system outputs the display avatar for presentation to a second user, for instance by displaying the display avatar on a display and/or by transmitting the display avatar to a user device associated with the second user. The display avatar can be presented in accordance with the characteristics associated with the first user.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAHLU OKEBATO whose telephone number is (571)270-3375. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00 - 5:00.
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/SAHLU OKEBATO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625
1/3/2026