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 Amendment
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant arguments/remarks made in amendment in which the following is noted: claims 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 20 are amended and the rejection of the claims traversed. Claims 1 – 20 are currently pending and an Office action on the merits follows.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 29 May 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues the cited references do not teach at least receiving of the first data that indicates activation comprising: analyzing, by the head-worn device, content that is displayed on the screen to identify one or more options on the screen; and determining that pupils of a user are focused on a particular option of the one or more options that have been identified and that the pupils remain focused on the particular option for a threshold period of time, the particular option corresponding to the setting.
However, the Office submits such features are disclosed in ‘482 and ‘990 respectively for those reasons discussed below.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 13, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isensee et al; (Publication number: US 2013/0318482 A1), hereafter ‘482, in view of Gregory A. Maltz (Publication number: US 2015/0323990 A1), hereafter ‘990, in view of Sarkar et al; (Publication number: US 2012/0216151 A1), hereafter ‘151.
Regarding claim 1:
‘482 discloses a system (‘482 Figure 1 100) comprising:
one or more hardware processors (‘482 Figure 1 CPU 104); and
at least one machine-storage medium for storing instructions (‘482 Figure 1 memory 102) that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more hardware processors to perform operations comprising:
causing display of a setting screen, the setting having a value that is adjustable based on user input (‘482 [0040] In one embodiment, the gestural control system 100 is configured to display 405 the interface control 114 in the user interface 116 on a touch display device 110. The interface control 114 is any interface element configured to set an interface value 118 selected from an ordered continuum of values. The interactive element may be any feature, including a set control or text numeric value, which may be changed by the user to set the interface value 118 corresponding to some aspect of the user interface 116.);
receiving first data that indicates activation of the setting to enable the setting to be adjusted (‘482 [0041] The gestural control system 100 receives a touch gesture input 120 on the interface control 114 on the display device 110. The display device 110 may be part of a mobile device, a desktop computer, a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop, or other computing device. The gesture input 120 may be any touch gesture on the display device 110, such as a finger gesture using a fingertip on the display device 110. The system 100 is configured to detect 410 the shape 122 of the gesture input 120. The system 100 may detect an initial shape 122 of the gesture input 120 on the interface control 114 to begin operating the interface control 114. For example, the system 100 detects the shape 122 of the fingertip of the user when the fingertip is pressed against the display device 110. The shape 122 may vary depending on the portion of the fingertip that is touching the display device 110.), receiving of the first data that indicates activation comprising: analyzing, by the head-worn device, content that is displayed on the screen to identify one or more options on the screen (‘482 Figure 4 440 – implied as the computer implemented method requires identification of the option in order to adjust the gain);
receiving motion information associated with a body part of a user (‘482 Figure 4 415; [0042] The system 100 then changes 415 the interface value 118 in response to detecting a change in the shape 122 of the gesture input 120. For example, the system 100 determines 420 whether the shape change corresponds to a right roll or a left roll. The system 100 may increase 425 the interface value 118 in response to detecting that the change in the shape 122 of the gesture input 120 corresponds to a right roll of the gesture input 120, and the system 100 may decrease 430 the interface value 118 in response to detecting that the change in the shape 122 of the gesture input 120 corresponds to a left roll of the gesture input 120. For example, if the user presses the fingertip flat against the display device 110 on the interface control 114 to enter edit mode and then rolls the fingertip to the right, such that the right side of the fingertip is touching the display device 110, the interface value 118 may increment. If the user rolls the fingertip to the left, such that the left side of the fingertip is touching the display device 110, the interface value 118 may decrement. When the user removes the gesture input 120 from the display device 110, the system 100 may set the interface value 118 to a current selected value in a range of possible values.);
adjusting the value of the setting based on the motion information (‘482 Figure 4 415; [0042] The system 100 then changes 415 the interface value 118 in response to detecting a change in the shape 122 of the gesture input 120. For example, the system 100 determines 420 whether the shape change corresponds to a right roll or a left roll. The system 100 may increase 425 the interface value 118 in response to detecting that the change in the shape 122 of the gesture input 120 corresponds to a right roll of the gesture input 120, and the system 100 may decrease 430 the interface value 118 in response to detecting that the change in the shape 122 of the gesture input 120 corresponds to a left roll of the gesture input 120. For example, if the user presses the fingertip flat against the display device 110 on the interface control 114 to enter edit mode and then rolls the fingertip to the right, such that the right side of the fingertip is touching the display device 110, the interface value 118 may increment. If the user rolls the fingertip to the left, such that the left side of the fingertip is touching the display device 110, the interface value 118 may decrement. When the user removes the gesture input 120 from the display device 110, the system 100 may set the interface value 118 to a current selected value in a range of possible values.);
and causing the adjusted value to be stored in association with the setting based on receiving the second data and detecting the pattern of movement (‘482 Figure 4 415; [0042] The system 100 then changes 415 the interface value 118 in response to detecting a change in the shape 122 of the gesture input 120. For example, the system 100 determines 420 whether the shape change corresponds to a right roll or a left roll. The system 100 may increase 425 the interface value 118 in response to detecting that the change in the shape 122 of the gesture input 120 corresponds to a right roll of the gesture input 120, and the system 100 may decrease 430 the interface value 118 in response to detecting that the change in the shape 122 of the gesture input 120 corresponds to a left roll of the gesture input 120. For example, if the user presses the fingertip flat against the display device 110 on the interface control 114 to enter edit mode and then rolls the fingertip to the right, such that the right side of the fingertip is touching the display device 110, the interface value 118 may increment. If the user rolls the fingertip to the left, such that the left side of the fingertip is touching the display device 110, the interface value 118 may decrement. When the user removes the gesture input 120 from the display device 110, the system 100 may set the interface value 118 to a current selected value in a range of possible values.).
‘482 does not disclose:
i) receiving, from a head-worn device, first data that indicates activation of the setting to be adjusted; receiving, from the head-worn device, motion information associated with a body part of a user of the head-worn device, and determining that pupils of a user are focused on a particular option of the one or more options that have been identified and that the pupils remain focused on the particular option for a threshold period time, the particular option corresponding to the setting; and
ii) receiving, from the head-worn device, second data indicative of a verbal cue from the user to confirm the adjusted value; and detecting a pattern of movement associated with the body part of the user concurrently with receiving the second data.
However, ‘990 discloses an eye-wearable device user interface and method. More particularly, ‘990 discloses the eye-wearable device includes a touch sensor (‘990 [0012] In particular, the method will often use an interface based on the concept of a virtual rotating wheel, cylinder, or other virtual surface, such as virtual solid that has various visible elements, again often symbols such as letters, numbers, and punctuation marks, around the surface or circumference of this virtual sold. Only some of the visible elements will generally be presented at any one time to the user via the virtual display, but by either gazing or using fingertip commands to rotate the virtual solid, or move to different rows of symbols on the surface of this virtual solid, the sequence of displayed visible elements can be scrolled through in a predictable manner. When touch control is desired, touches on the touchpad can be registered as a keystroke by the system, and thus used for various functions as described above. Likewise, swiping the finger up, down, or side to side can rotate the virtual solid to rapidly scroll through the virtual keys, symbols, or data to access the desired content. [0042] The device's touch sensor, also termed a touchpad sensor, if present, may be mounted on any region of the device as desired. In FIG. 1, this touch sensor (170) is shown mounted on the temple (106) of the device frame, where it can be conveniently accessed by the user's finger (172). Alternatively the touchpad may be a remote touchpad, not attached to the frame, connecting to the device via a wire or wireless (e.g. Bluetooth) connection.), determining that pupils of a user are focused on a particular option of the one or more options that have been identified and that the pupils remain focused on the particular option for a threshold period time, the particular option corresponding to the setting (‘990 Further, ‘990 discloses function keys which correspond to the most commonly used option; [0086].; ‘990 And relying on dwell time on the target that may also be used giving important information that the eye is fixing [0011][0098]).
It would have been obvious to modify ‘482 to include i) receiving, from a head-worn device, first data that indicates activation of the setting to be adjusted; receiving, from the head-worn device, motion information associated with a body part of a user of the head-worn device and determining that pupils of a user are focused on a particular option of the one or more options that have been identified and that the pupils remain focused on the particular option for a threshold period time, the particular option corresponding to the setting, as claimed. Those skilled in the art would appreciate the ability to allow the user to interact with the displayed information while freeing inconspicuous manner.
Further, ‘151 discloses using gestures to schedule and manage meetings. More particularly, ‘151 discloses second data indicative of a verbal cue from the user to confirm the adjusted value; and detecting a pattern of movement associated with the body part of the user concurrently with receiving the second data (‘151 [0050] At 530, the gesture and audio interpretation process logic 100 interprets hand movements indicating a pointing and selection gesture associated with one of the objects (with or without a voice command) to generate a selection command (supplied to the gesture-oriented rendering process logic 200) of a displayed object for a person, and the gesture-oriented rendering process logic 200 supplies a command (to the calendar application and/or conference system server) to add a person corresponding to the selected object as a participant to be invited to the meeting. As shown in FIG. 15B, the user can use a pointing gesture to point a finger to respective ones of a plurality of objects 522 for the persons he/she wants to invite in the meeting. To increase accuracy or speed of the selection, the pointing gesture can be combined with speech. For example, the user points to the object for a person on the screen while saying "you" or "not you" in order to select or not select a person. In another example, the user may speak the contact's name while pointing at that contact's object. Also, as explained in connection with FIG. 15A, the user may select all of the persons in a particular group by selecting one of the buttons shown at 524. That is, at 530, interpreting may involve interpreting hand movements indicating a point and selection gesture of an object representing a group of persons, and generating a command configured to add each of the persons in the group as a participant to the meeting.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to further modify ‘482 (in view of ‘990) to include: ii) receiving, from the head-worn device, second data indicative of a verbal cue from the user to confirm the adjusted value; and detecting a pattern of movement associated with the body part of the user concurrently with receiving the second data, as claimed. Those skilled in the art would appreciate the ability to further increase accuracy or speed of the selection gesture.
Regarding claim 13:
Claim 13 is similarly rejected for those reasons discussed above in claim 1.
Regarding claim 20:
Claim 20 is similarly rejected for those reasons discussed above in claim 1 (and ‘482 [0050]).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isensee et al; (Publication number: US 2013/0318482 A1), hereafter ‘482, in view of Gregory A. Maltz (Publication number: US 2015/0323990 A1), hereafter ‘990, in view of Sarkar et al; (Publication number: US 2012/0216151 A1), hereafter ‘151, and in view of Hejza Litwiller (Publication number: US 2003/0234763 A1), hereafter ‘763, in view of Tepper et al; (Publication number: US 2012/0310416 A1), hereafter ‘416.
Regarding claim 10:
‘482 (in view of ‘990 and ‘151) does not disclose the system of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise: a combination of object segmentation and haptic and verbal cues to activate the setting for adjustment.
However, ‘763 discloses verbal cues (‘763 [0006] What is presented is a system and method by which a visually impaired worker could easily and quickly navigate and select menu options on touch screen displays by listening to audio feedback associated with the selection of each menu option.)
And ‘416 discloses object segmentation (‘’416 Figure 4 illustrates segmented settings displayed to the user) and haptic (‘416 [0030] A user is provided informational feedback (e.g., positive feedback and/or negative feedback) based on whether a setting satisfies a pre-defined condition including a first pre-defined condition and/or a second pre-defined condition. For example, in response to user commands modifying a setting to meet the first pre-defined condition a positive indicator, such as a checkmark, a green image, a sound, animation, haptic feedback or similar indicator associated with the setting is displayed or generated alongside or proximate to the setting. The indicator can be a positive indicator to indicate that a benefit is associated with the particular setting satisfying a designated performance metric, such as an EPA setting for ENERGY STAR Residential Climate Controls, for example.)
It would have been obvious to further modify ‘482 (in view of ‘990 and ‘151) wherein the operations comprise: a combination of object segmentation and haptic and verbal cues to activate the setting for adjustment, as claimed, because such a combination would be based on combining prior art elements according to known elements to yield predictable results. More particularly, the settings interface in ‘482 as modified to include a combination of object segmentation and haptic and verbal cues to activate the setting for adjustment, as claimed, is known to yield predictable result of providing feedback to the user for adjusting a setting. Thus, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have appreciated including in ‘415 (in view of ‘990 and ‘151) a combination of object segmentation and haptic and verbal cues to activate the setting for adjustment¸ as claimed, since the claimed invention is a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isensee et al; (Publication number: US 2013/0318482 A1), hereafter ‘482, in view of Gregory A. Maltz (Publication number: US 2015/0323990 A1), hereafter ‘990, in view of Sarkar et al; (Publication number: US 2012/0216151 A1), hereafter ‘151, and in view of Hejza Litwiller (Publication number: US 2003/0234763 A1), hereafter ‘763, in view of Tepper et al; (Publication number: US 2012/0310416 A1), hereafter ‘416, in view of Geisner et al; (Publication number: US 2013/0083063 A1), hereafter ‘063, and in view of Scavezze et al; (Publication number: US 10, 613, 642), hereafter ‘642.
Regarding claim 11:
‘482 (in view of ‘990 and ‘151 and ‘763 and ‘416) does not disclose the system of claim 10, wherein the pattern of movement comprises a double nod of a head, where the head is moved up and down multiple times within a specified threshold period of time.
However, ‘063 discloses service provision using personal audio/visual system. More particularly, ‘063 discloses gesture selection nod (‘063 [0112] In step 500, the user of the personal A/V apparatus will authenticate. In one embodiment, authentication is limited to the personal A/V apparatus. In another embodiment, authentication will be performed in conjunction with a Supplemental Information Provider and/or Central Control and Information Servers (e.g., server 24). In step 502, the user will request a service provider to provide a service. In one embodiment, the user will have an identity of the service provider and request that particular identity to the personal A/V apparatus. In another embodiment, the user will know that the user wants the service but will not know an identity of a particular provider. Therefore, the user will request a service, the system will provide the user with a list of services, the user will choose a service from the list, the system will provide the user with a list of service providers for the chosen service, and the user will choose one of the service providers. This process of choosing can be performed with a set of menus, voice commands, commands made by hand gestures or head nods, or other selection means. In one approach, the service consumer speaks with a live operator to provide the request, and the operator identifies an appropriate service provider and connects the service provider's computing device to the service consumer's HMDD.).
It would have been obvious to further modify ‘482 (in view of ‘990 and ‘151 and ‘763 and ‘416), wherein the pattern of movement comprises a double nod of a head, where the head is moved up and down multiple times, as claimed. Those skilled in the art would appreciate utilizing a natural movement to confirm selection.
Further, ‘642 discloses gesture parameter tuning. More particularly, ‘642 discloses a specified threshold period of time (‘642 Col 7 lines 26 – 40; At 516, method 500 includes determining if the gesture is completed. For example, the gesture may be determined not to be completed if a head/HMD position over time is outside of the range of head/HMD motion associated with the gesture definition in one or more dimensions. If the gesture is not completed (e.g., “NO” at 516), the method 500 proceeds to 518 to determine whether a threshold number of initializations have been performed without completing the gesture. In some embodiments, various constraints may be applied to this determination, such as counting consecutive initializations without intervening gestures and/or counting initializations occurring within a time window. In other embodiments, the determination may not have such constraints.
It would have been obvious to further modify 482 (in view of ‘990 and ‘151 and ‘763 and ‘416 and ‘063) wherein the pattern of movement comprises a double nod of a head, where the head is moved up and down multiple times within a specified threshold period of time, as claimed. Those skilled in the art would appreciate the ability to reduce unintended gestures.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isensee et al; (Publication number: US 2013/0318482 A1), hereafter ‘482, in view of Gregory A. Maltz (Publication number: US 2015/0323990 A1), hereafter ‘990, in view of Sarkar et al; (Publication number: US 2012/0216151 A1), hereafter ‘151, and in view of Hejza Litwiller (Publication number: US 2003/0234763 A1), hereafter ‘763, in view of Tepper et al; (Publication number: US 2012/0310416 A1), hereafter ‘416, in view of Geisner et al; (Publication number: US 2013/0083063 A1), hereafter ‘063, and in view of Scavezze et al; (Publication number: US 10, 613, 642), hereafter ‘642, in view of Park et al; (Publication number: US 2014/0240260 A1), hereafter ‘260.
Regarding claim 12:
‘482 (in view of ‘990 and ‘151 and ‘763 and ‘416 and ‘063 and ‘642) discloses the system of claim 11, wherein the verbal cue comprises one or more nonverbal sounds (‘763 [0006] What is presented is a system and method by which a visually impaired worker could easily and quickly navigate and select menu options on touch screen displays by listening to audio feedback associated with the selection of each menu option.)
However, ‘482 (in view of ‘990 and ‘151 and ‘763 and ‘416 and ‘063 and ‘642) does not disclose wherein the user input for adjusting the value comprises a non-touch input.
However, ‘260 discloses a method and apparatus for providing user interface. More particularly, ‘260 discloses a touch input which may include a proximity input (‘260 Figure 1 101).
It would have been obvious to further modify ‘482 (in view of ‘990 and ‘151 and ‘763 and ‘416 and ‘063 and ‘642) wherein the user input for adjusting the value comprises a non-touch input (proximity touch), as claimed. Those skilled in the art would appreciate the ability to provide touch type inputs without directly touch the screen, thereby reducing an apparent obstruction to the screen for the viewer.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 – 9 and 14 – 19 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.
Regarding claim 2 (and similarly claim 14) the prior art does not disclose the system of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise: automatically generating a listing for an item in a field of view of the head-worn device; publishing the listing on a publication platform, wherein the setting comprises a rate selection for setting a rate for publishing the listing on the publication platform; presenting a first option to increase the value of the setting; presenting a second option to decrease the value of the setting; and selecting between the first option and the second option based on the motion information.
As an example of the related art, Lorenzen et al; (Patent number: US 7, 197, 475 B1), hereafter ‘475, discloses multi-vendor internet commerce system for E-commerce applications and methods therefor. More particularly, ‘475 discloses on a publication platform, wherein the setting comprises a rate selection for setting a rate for publishing the listing on the publication platform (‘475 Figure 8 – a representative merchant input form 800 includes a price field 806 for setting a rate of a listing of item name 804). However, ‘475 does not disclose the system of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise: automatically generating a listing for an item in a field of view of the head-worn device; publishing the listing on a publication platform, wherein the setting comprises a rate selection for setting a rate for publishing the listing on the publication platform; presenting a first option to increase the value of the setting; presenting a second option to decrease the value of the setting; and selecting between the first option and the second option based on the motion information, as claimed.
Claims 3 – 9 and 15 – 19 depend on at least one of claims 2 and 14, accordingly, and are therefore similarly allowed.
Conclusion
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.
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/MIHIR K RAYAN/ 28 May 2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2622
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