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 .
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 16-20 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 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 rather they include within their scope the invention as a non-tangible or otherwise transitory signal, per se. The instant claim recites a “computer program product embodied on a computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions”. The claim could be statutory if directed toward a specific apparatus, however the claim does not limit the apparatus to specifically a statutory type apparatus as the “computer program product embodied on a computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions” is not necessarily a statutory type storage media. Note that a “claim whose BRI covers both statutory and non-statutory embodiments embraces subject matter that is not eligible for patent protection and therefore is directed to non-statutory subject matter” and “the BRI of machine readable media can encompass non-statutory transitory forms of signal transmission, such as a propagating electrical or electromagnetic signal per se” meaning that “a claim to a computer readable medium that can be a compact disc or a carrier wave covers a non-statutory embodiment and therefore should be rejected.” (See MPEP 2106.03(II)).
A review of the Specification does not find an explicit, exclusive or closed-ended definition of “computer program product embodied on a computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions,” and thus such an open-ended definition leaves open the possibility under the broadest reasonable interpretation, that such a “computer program product embodied on a computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions” could encompass non-statutory type media such as a transitory propagating signal; and the Specification provides no explicit or BRI-limiting teaching as to what constitutes solely, a “computer program product embodied on a computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions.” Rather, the Specification actually includes the definition of such a computer program product as stored “on or in a transitory medium as in paragraphs 0495-0498 disclosing “processor-readable medium” and “The term "processor-readable medium" as used herein refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to the processor 1604 for execution” and “Such a medium may take many forms, including…transmission media” and “Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared data communications” and thus within the scope of the claim is a transitory, propagating signal. Thus the “computer program product embodied on a computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions” which forms the basis of the apparatus portion of the claim could be encompassing statutory media as well as non-statutory subject matter such as a transitory propagating signal. “A transitory, propagating signal … is not a “process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.” Those four categories define the explicit scope and reach of subject matter patentable under 35 U.S.C. § 101; thus, such a signal cannot be patentable subject matter.” (In re Petrus A.C.M. Nuijten; Fed Cir, 2006-1371, 9/20/2007).
The examiner suggests amending the claim to include the word “non-transitory” before “computer readable medium” which would exclude any non-statutory embodiments and render the claims statutory and as in paragraphs 0495-0497 of the Specification there is support for a “non-transitory medium” as well as examples of non-transitory media.
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.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim11 in view of Kim22.
Regarding claim 1, Kim1 teaches a computer-implemented method, comprising (see Kim1, paragraphs 0050-0052 teaching “processor 110 of the present invention may be able to execute the contents received via data communications, the contents saved in the storage unit 160 and the like. Moreover, the processor 110 may be able to activate various applications and to process the data inside the device. In addition, the processor (or, main control unit) 110 may be able to control various units of the HMD 100 mentioned in the above description and data transmissions and receptions between the units” and “the steps shown in FIG. 3 may be controlled by the processor 110 of the HMD 100 shown in FIG. 2”):
receiving, from a wearable computing system, a first set of data indicating whether a proximity-sensitive display is visible to a user of the wearable computing system at a first point in time (here note importantly that “wearable computing system” is extremely broadly recited such that the broadest reasonable interpretation of a wearable system is any computing system that includes some component that is capable of being worn and need not be actually worn nor does any user or actor need to be wearing such a component during the functioning of the method as the wearable aspect of the computing system does not affect the functioning of the claim limitations, though it is still required by the claims; further note that “proximity-sensitive display” corresponds to any display that is responsive through any associated sensing and control, to detect a spatial presence or relative position or location and note again that such is a capability of the display but such capability does not affect the functioning of the claims as recited; finally note that “data indicating whether a…display is visible to a user of the wearable computing system” corresponds to any sensor or image data or determined data that indicates a display’s visibility condition with respect to the user and would comprise whether, to what extent, or in what manner the display is visible and could include degrees of visibility as well as full visibility and full nonvisibility; thus see Kim1, paragraph 0005 teaching “head mounted display (hereinafter abbreviated HMD) means a sort of an image display device wearable on a head like glasses to enable an image to be viewed” and in paragraphs 0046-0047 teaching “sensor unit 150 may be able to forward a user input or an environment recognized by the HMD 100 to the processor 110 using a plurality of sensors installed in the HMD 100. In this case, the sensor unit 150 may be able to include a plurality of sensing means” and “the sensor unit 150 may include an image photographing sensor (not shown in the drawing). The image photographing sensor detects an image within a preset view angle image and may be then able to provide the detected image to the processor 110. According to one embodiment of the present invention, based on the image detected via the image photographing sensor, the processor 110 may be able to detect whether a digital device (or, a display unit of the corresponding digital device) interoperating with the HMD 100 is present within the view angle region of the HMD 100” and for example as in paragraphs 0056-0057, “to detect a location state of the digital device using an image photographing sensor. In particular, while the HMD establishes a communication connection with the digital device, the image photographing sensor detects an image within the preset view angle region of the HMD” and “If the digital device connected with the HMD is present within the view angle region of the HMD, the HMD may be able to detect the light pattern outputted from the digital device via the image photographing sensor. Otherwise, i.e., if the digital device connected with the HMD is not present within the view angle region of the HMD, the light pattern outputted from the digital device may not be detected via the image photographing sensor” and “when a user is in a situation that the display unit of the digital device is not viewable, the HMD may be unable to detect the light pattern. Therefore, based on whether a light pattern of a digital device is detected within a view angle region, an HMD of the present invention may be able to detect a location state of the digital device” and thus it can be understood that the HMD corresponds to the wearable system and the image data received by the processor of the HMD which is part of the wearable system corresponds to the first set of data indicating visibility of the digital device it is paired with in the system, where the digital device is a proximity sensitive display as it uses the location and spatial information about the user to make display control decisions such that it is sensitive to the proximity of the HMD and user proximity of the user’s gaze and FOV; see also paragraphs 0072-0076 and figures 5a-5b teaching “a case that the location state of the digital device 200 is switched into a second state [FIG. 5 (b)] from a first state [FIG. 5 (a)] according to an embodiment of the present invention. In doing so, the content 1 currently displayed on the digital device 200 moves to the HMD 100 and may be then displayed on the HMD 100” and “if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present within the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100, the HMD 100 does not output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (a), the HMD 100 may be in a state that a communication connection with the digital device 200 is not established” and “while a user 10 is wearing the HMD 100, the user 10 may look at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200. In doing so, the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 may be located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100. Thus, if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present outside the digital device 200, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (b), the HMD 100 has already established the communication connection with the digital device 200. Hence, the HMD 100 receives the content 1 from the digital device 200 via a network 300 by real time and may be then able to output the received content 1. Meanwhile, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the digital device 200 may stop displaying the content 1 in the second state in which the digital device 200 is located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100” such that here the wearable system receives first data indicating visibility of the display 220 and second data indicating other visibility with regard to the display);
receiving, from the wearable computing system, a second set of data indicating whether the proximity-sensitive display is visible to the user of the wearable computing system at a second, later point in time (see Kim1 as explained above where the wearable system constantly receives second data indicating visibility similarly to the first data as already explained above such that for example as in paragraphs 0072-0076 and figure 5a-5b as explained above, “a case that the location state of the digital device 200 is switched into a second state [FIG. 5 (b)] from a first state [FIG. 5 (a)] according to an embodiment of the present invention. In doing so, the content 1 currently displayed on the digital device 200 moves to the HMD 100 and may be then displayed on the HMD 100” and “if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present within the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100, the HMD 100 does not output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (a), the HMD 100 may be in a state that a communication connection with the digital device 200 is not established” and “while a user 10 is wearing the HMD 100, the user 10 may look at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200. In doing so, the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 may be located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100. Thus, if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present outside the digital device 200, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (b), the HMD 100 has already established the communication connection with the digital device 200. Hence, the HMD 100 receives the content 1 from the digital device 200 via a network 300 by real time and may be then able to output the received content 1. Meanwhile, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the digital device 200 may stop displaying the content 1 in the second state in which the digital device 200 is located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100” such that here the second data corresponds to data received later about the visibility such as “while a user 10 is wearing the HMD 100, the user 10 may look at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200. In doing so, the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 may be located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100. Thus, if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present outside the digital device 200, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1” and “the digital device 200 may stop displaying the content 1 in the second state in which the digital device 200 is located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100” such that for example here the first data indicates the display is visible to the user and the second data indicates the display is not visible to the user);
determining, based on receiving the first and second sets of data from the wearable computing system, that a change in the user's visibility of the proximity- sensitive display has occurred (again note the a change in visibility corresponds to the definition above such that a change does not require a change to be a binary change but can encompass any change in degree of visibility as defined above; see Kim1, paragraph 0054 teaching “Subsequently, the HMD of the present invention may be able to detect a location state of the connected digital device [S320]. According to the present invention, the location state may include a first state having the display unit of the digital device located in a preset view angle region of the HMD and a second state having the display unit of the digital device located outside the view angle region of the HMD. According to the present invention, the view angle region is a preset region corresponding to eyes of a user who is wearing the HMD and may include a section within a predetermined angle range in front direction of the HMD” and as in paragraph 0059 “Subsequently, the HMD of the present invention may be able to output a content currently displayed on the digital device to the HMD based on the detected location state of the digital device. To this end, based on the detected location state of the digital device, the HMD preferentially determines whether the display unit of the corresponding digital device is present within the view angle region of the HMD [S330]. If the display unit of the digital device is present within the view angle region, the HMD of the present invention may not output the currently displayed content of the digital device [S340]. On the contrary, if the display unit of the digital device is not present within the view angle region, the HMD of the present invention may be able to output the currently displayed content of the digital device [S342]. To this end, the HMD receives the currently displayed content of the digital device from the digital device and may be then able to output the received content to the display unit of the HMD” such that here the system continuously detects sets of data and determines changes in order to control the displays and switch them between modes as is exemplified in paragraphs 0072-0076 and figures 5a-5b as explained above teaching “a case that the location state of the digital device 200 is switched into a second state [FIG. 5 (b)] from a first state [FIG. 5 (a)] according to an embodiment of the present invention. In doing so, the content 1 currently displayed on the digital device 200 moves to the HMD 100 and may be then displayed on the HMD 100” and “if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present within the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100, the HMD 100 does not output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (a), the HMD 100 may be in a state that a communication connection with the digital device 200 is not established” and “while a user 10 is wearing the HMD 100, the user 10 may look at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200. In doing so, the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 may be located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100. Thus, if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present outside the digital device 200, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (b), the HMD 100 has already established the communication connection with the digital device 200. Hence, the HMD 100 receives the content 1 from the digital device 200 via a network 300 by real time and may be then able to output the received content 1. Meanwhile, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the digital device 200 may stop displaying the content 1 in the second state in which the digital device 200 is located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100” such that here the system has determine a change in the user’s visibility of the digital display and controls the content of the devices of the system); and
in response to determining that the change in the user's visibility of the proximity- sensitive display has occurred, switching between (i) a first presentation mode in which a graphical user interface is presented on the proximity-sensitive display, and (ii) a second presentation mode in which the proximity-sensitive display consumes less power than it does in the first presentation mode (note that a “graphical user interface” is any user interface that is graphical in some manner where the manner of interaction can include viewing, touching, controlling, or otherwise interacting in any way that interfaces the content of the machine with the user such that for example viewing a controllable menu would be presentation of a graphical user interface as would be a video displayed to a user controlling the display as the graphical user interface would be the viewed content that the user interacts with through viewing; see Kim1, paragraph 0036 teaching “the digital device 200 may be able to output various kinds of contents 1. For instance, the digital device 200 may be able to output various kinds of multimedia contents including a live broadcast, a movie, a music, a drama, a webpage, a game, and application and the like. The digital device 200 includes at least one display unit 220. The content 1 outputted from the digital device 200 may be displayed on the display unit 220” such that the content 1 may include any of such content which may be considered presented as a graphical user interface and as in paragraphs 0072-0074 as explained above, “a case that the location state of the digital device 200 is switched into a second state [FIG. 5 (b)] from a first state [FIG. 5 (a)] according to an embodiment of the present invention. In doing so, the content 1 currently displayed on the digital device 200 moves to the HMD 100 and may be then displayed on the HMD 100” and “if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present within the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100, the HMD 100 does not output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (a), the HMD 100 may be in a state that a communication connection with the digital device 200 is not established” and “while a user 10 is wearing the HMD 100, the user 10 may look at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200. In doing so, the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 may be located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100. Thus, if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present outside the digital device 200, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (b), the HMD 100 has already established the communication connection with the digital device 200. Hence, the HMD 100 receives the content 1 from the digital device 200 via a network 300 by real time and may be then able to output the received content 1. Meanwhile, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the digital device 200 may stop displaying the content 1 in the second state in which the digital device 200 is located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100” such that in the first presentation mode where the proximity sensitive device is visible to the user, a graphical user interface such as “content 1” is presented and displayed to the user on the proximity sensitive display device 220 and when the change occurs then the second presentation mode changes to “stop displaying content 1 in the second state” and as in figure 5b the content is no longer displayed with the screen showing a blank screen).
Kim teaches all of the above but fails to specifically teach that the second presentation mode is necessarily a mode in which the proximity-sensitive display consumes less power than it does in the first presentation mode. Rather, Kim does teach to stop displaying content in a second presentation mode as explained above, but this would not necessarily inherently mean that the display would be consuming less power. Thus Kim stands as a base device upon which the claimed invention can be seen as an improvement through such a second presentation mode that also specifically conserves power compared to a first presentation mode.
In the same field of endeavor relating to using visibility determinations between a user and display to control presentation modes, Kim2 teaches that it is known to track changes between the visibility of a display with respect to a user and to switch between presentation modes including switching from a first mode showing graphical content and a second mode which consumes less power than the first mode (see Kim2, paragraphs 0022-0024 teaching “Modes of the portable device 10 may include an active mode, a tactile-only mode and a standby mode. In the active mode, the portable device 10 may activate a visual interface, or may active a visual interface and a tactile interface together. The visual interface is an interface that can be visually confirmed, and may be referred to as a graphical user interface” such that here an active mode can present a GUI and a second tactile-only or standby mode consumes less power where “portable device 10 is characterized by providing no visual interface in the tactile-only mode, unlike in the active mode. As such, the portable device 10 may save power consumed to drive the display unit in the tactile-only mode” and “In the standby mode, the portable device 10 may deactivate both the visual interface and the tactile interface. The portable device 10 may save power consumed by the display unit and the tactile feedback unit owing to deactivation of the user interfaces in the standby mode” and as in paragraphs 0046-0050 “the controller 106 may switch the mode of the portable device based on information with respect to the user's gaze transmitted through the sensor unit 101 or the camera unit 102” and “controller 106 may activate or deactivate the display unit 103 and the tactile feedback unit 104 according to the mode switched based on the transmitted information with respect to the user's gaze and the touch input. The controller 106 may provide the visual interface and the tactile interface together when both the user's gaze and the touch input are detected. On the contrary, if only the touch input is detected and the user's gaze is not detected, the portable device may provide the user with only the tactile interface, thereby achieving a reduction in power consumption” and “the portable device may activate the display unit and the tactile feedback unit in the active mode. The portable device may provide a visual interface via the display unit, and may provide a tactile interface via the tactile feedback unit. The portable device may determine whether or not to keep the display unit in an activated state by detecting the user's gaze. The portable device may attempt to detect the user's gaze at every first time interval, so as to confirm whether or not the user watches the display unit” and “portable device may be switched to the tactile-only mode if the user's gaze is not detected (S30). In the tactile-only mode, the portable device may deactivate the display unit, and keep the tactile feedback unit in an activated state. The display unit of the portable device no longer provides the visual interface. In this way, the portable device may save power consumed by the deactivated display unit” and “portable device may be switched to the standby mode if a touch input is not detected for a second time interval in the tactile-only mode (S40). As described above with reference to FIG. 2, in the standby mode, the portable device may keep the display unit in the inactivated state, and deactivate the tactile feedback unit. In this way, the portable device may save power consumed by the display unit and the tactile feedback unit” and “If the user attempts to switch the portable device from the standby mode to another mode, the portable device may detect the user's gaze using the camera unit or the sensor unit. If the user's gaze is detected, the portable device may be switched from the standby mode to the active mode. The portable device may activate the display unit and the tactile feedback unit when switched to the active mode. In this way, the portable may simultaneously provide the user with the visual interface and the tactile interface. On the other hand, if the user's gaze is not detected, the portable device may be switched from the standby mode to the tactile-only mode. The portable device may activate the tactile feedback unit and keep the display unit in the inactivated state when switched to the tactile-only mode” and as in paragraph 0021 “deactivation of the visual interface or deactivation of the display unit may include lowering the luminance of the display unit to increase or decrease the screen brightness of the visual interface” and relatedly as in paragraph 0053 “portable device may deactivate the display unit if the first timer is completely counted down (S130). The portable device may cut off power supplied to the display unit to deactivate the display unit. Deactivation of the display unit may include reducing the brightness of the display unit to darken the display unit” such that here in response to the visibility change the technique switches the display to a power saving mode that uses less power whereby this may include reducing the brightness of the display unit to darken the display unit for example or may shut the power off). Thus Kim2 teaches a known technique applicable to the base system of Kim1 such that it is known to switch between presentation modes based on visibility of a display corresponding to a user and switching from a first mode to a second mode that uses less power than the first mode.
Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kim1 by applying the known technique of Kim2 as doing so would be no more than application of a known technique to a base device ready for improvement which would yield predictable results and result in an improved system. The predictable result of the combination would be that the second presentation mode in Kim1 which already stops the display because it is not visible to a user in a second viewing state, would be modified to be deactivate the stop display or otherwise enter a power saving presentation mode as taught and suggested by Kim2 above. This would result in an improved system because the device which no longer needs to display the content to the user and is already stopped could be ensured to save power compared to the first mode and thus provide the system with greater power savings and efficiency (see Kim2 paragraph 0005 teaching that the technique is a solution for devices that “cannot save power consumed by the display unit even while the user does not watch the display unit” and the purpose is “to provide a portable device capable of reducing power consumption”).
Regarding claim 2, Kim1 teaches all that is required as applied to claim 1 above and further teaches wherein determining, based on receiving the first and second sets of data from the wearable computing system, that a change in the user's visibility of the proximity-sensitive display has occurred comprises determining, based on receiving the first and second sets of data from the wearable computing system, that the user has lost visibility of the proximity-sensitive display (see Kim1 as modified with Kim1 teaches such determining of a change in visibility from the first and second data sets and where it is determined that the user has lost visibility of the proximity-sensitive display as in paragraphs 0072-0076 and figures 5a-5b as explained above teaching “a case that the location state of the digital device 200 is switched into a second state [FIG. 5 (b)] from a first state [FIG. 5 (a)] according to an embodiment of the present invention. In doing so, the content 1 currently displayed on the digital device 200 moves to the HMD 100 and may be then displayed on the HMD 100” and “if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present within the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100, the HMD 100 does not output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (a), the HMD 100 may be in a state that a communication connection with the digital device 200 is not established” and “while a user 10 is wearing the HMD 100, the user 10 may look at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200. In doing so, the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 may be located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100. Thus, if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present outside the digital device 200, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (b), the HMD 100 has already established the communication connection with the digital device 200. Hence, the HMD 100 receives the content 1 from the digital device 200 via a network 300 by real time and may be then able to output the received content 1. Meanwhile, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the digital device 200 may stop displaying the content 1 in the second state in which the digital device 200 is located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100” such that in the second mode it is determined that the user lost visibility as the display does not appear in the FOV as determined from the first and second data sets).
Regarding claim 3, Kim1 teaches all that is required as applied to claim 2 above and further teaches wherein in response to determining that the user has lost visibility of the proximity-sensitive display, the method comprises switching from the first presentation mode to the second presentation mode (see Kim1 as modified with Kim1 teaches such determining of a change in visibility from the first and second data sets and where it is determined that the user has lost visibility of the proximity-sensitive display as in paragraphs 0072-0076 and figures 5a-5b as explained above teaching “a case that the location state of the digital device 200 is switched into a second state [FIG. 5 (b)] from a first state [FIG. 5 (a)] according to an embodiment of the present invention. In doing so, the content 1 currently displayed on the digital device 200 moves to the HMD 100 and may be then displayed on the HMD 100” and “if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present within the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100, the HMD 100 does not output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (a), the HMD 100 may be in a state that a communication connection with the digital device 200 is not established” and “while a user 10 is wearing the HMD 100, the user 10 may look at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200. In doing so, the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 may be located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100. Thus, if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present outside the digital device 200, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (b), the HMD 100 has already established the communication connection with the digital device 200. Hence, the HMD 100 receives the content 1 from the digital device 200 via a network 300 by real time and may be then able to output the received content 1. Meanwhile, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the digital device 200 may stop displaying the content 1 in the second state in which the digital device 200 is located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100” such that in the second mode it is determined that the user lost visibility as the display does not appear in the FOV as determined from the first and second data sets and then it switches to the second presentation mode as modified by Kim2 such that it would enter a power-saving mode in relation to the proximity-sensitive display that has stopped playing as it is not viewed).
Regarding claim 4, Kim1 as modified teaches all that is required as applied to claim 1 above and further teaches wherein in response to determining that the user has lost visibility of the proximity-sensitive display, the method comprises switching from the second presentation mode to the first presentation mode (see Kim1 as modified by Kim2 as explained above, where Kim1 teaches as in paragraphs 0072-0076 and figures 5a-5b an embodiment in which “the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1 after a preset time. In particular, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1 after duration of the preset time from a time in which the location state of the digital device 200 was switched. Moreover, the digital device 200 may be able to stop an output of the content 1 during the preset time from the time in which the location state of the digital device 200 was switched. After duration of the preset time, the digital device 200 may continue to output the content 1. For instance, if the content 1 is a video content and the location state of the digital device 200 is switched from the first state into the second state, the digital device 200 may be able to pause the output of the video content during a preset time” such that here the lost visibility causes the device to enter the second presentation mode which changes the content to be paused and then “After the duration of the preset time, the digital device 200 may continue to output the content 1” such that it enters the first presentation mode after determining lost visibility and Kim2 already modifies the Kim1 teachings such that when entering the second mode the mode is a power saving mode such that loss of visibility can still lead to a switch from presentation of the second mode to the first mode by the display device).
Regarding claim 5, Kim1 as modified teaches all that is required as applied to claim 1 above and further teaches wherein determining, based on receiving the first and second sets of data from the wearable computing system, that a change in the user's visibility of the proximity-sensitive display has occurred comprises determining, based on receiving the first and second sets of data from the wearable computing system, that the user has regained visibility of the proximity-sensitive display (see Kim1 as modified with Kim1 teaching such an aspect already in combination where as in paragraphs 0056-0062 teaching that the receiving of the data sets is ongoing and includes such determining that the user has regained visibility when the data set goes from indicating that the location of the user is not one where the display is visible to data indicating that the display is visible as in figure 3 where “while the HMD establishes a communication connection with the digital device, the image photographing sensor detects an image within the preset view angle region of the HMD and may be then able to provide the detected image to the processor of the HMD. Based on the image detected by the image photographing sensor, the processor may be able to detect whether a digital device (or, a display unit of the corresponding digital device) connected with the HMD is present within the view angle region of the HMD” and “Subsequently, the HMD of the present invention may be able to output a content currently displayed on the digital device to the HMD based on the detected location state of the digital device. To this end, based on the detected location state of the digital device, the HMD preferentially determines whether the display unit of the corresponding digital device is present within the view angle region of the HMD [S330]. If the display unit of the digital device is present within the view angle region, the HMD of the present invention may not output the currently displayed content of the digital device [S340]. On the contrary, if the display unit of the digital device is not present within the view angle region, the HMD of the present invention may be able to output the currently displayed content of the digital device [S342]. To this end, the HMD receives the currently displayed content of the digital device from the digital device and may be then able to output the received content to the display unit of the HMD” and “Subsequently, the HMD of the present invention determines whether the communication connection with the digital device is ongoing [S350]. If the communication connection with the digital device is ongoing, the HMD goes back to the step S320 and then detects a location state of the paired digital device” such that here during this ongoing process the first and second data sets determine regaining of visibility as well as any loss of visibility).
Regarding claim 6, Kim1 as modified teaches all that is required as applied to claim 1 above and further teaches wherein the second presentation mode is one in which the one or more processors are configured to present a limited version of the graphical user interface on the proximity-sensitive display (see Kim1 as modified, with Kim1 teaching at paragraphs 0072-0076 and figure 5a-5b, “the user 10 may look at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200. In doing so, the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 may be located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100. Thus, if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present outside the digital device 200, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (b), the HMD 100 has already established the communication connection with the digital device 200. Hence, the HMD 100 receives the content 1 from the digital device 200 via a network 300 by real time and may be then able to output the received content 1” and “For another instance, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1 after a preset time. In particular, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1 after duration of the preset time from a time in which the location state of the digital device 200 was switched. Moreover, the digital device 200 may be able to stop an output of the content 1 during the preset time from the time in which the location state of the digital device 200 was switched. After duration of the preset time, the digital device 200 may continue to output the content 1. For instance, if the content 1 is a video content and the location state of the digital device 200 is switched from the first state into the second state, the digital device 200 may be able to pause the output of the video content during a preset time” such that in a situation in which the content is in it’s “pause” state then as modified by Kim2 it would be in a low power state and as it would be paused, this would be showing a still version of the full content such as the paused frame and not the full version of the content such that this would present a limited version of the GUI on the proximity-sensitive display during that time).
Regarding claim 7, Kim1 as modified teaches all that is required as applied to claim 1 above and further teaches wherein the first presentation mode is one in which the one or more processors are configured to operate the proximity-sensitive display such that content is presented at a first level of brightness, and the second presentation mode is one in which the one or more processors are configured to operate the proximity-sensitive display such that content is presented at a second level of brightness that is lower than the first level of brightness (see Kim1 as modified by Kim2 where Kim1 as modified teaches the mode switching as explained above and that when entering the second mode this should be a power saving mode and Kim2 already teaches in the combination explained that the power saving second presentation mode can be on in which the content is presented at a second level of brightness that is lower than the first level of brightness of the first presentation as in Kim2, paragraph 0021 teaching “deactivation of the visual interface or deactivation of the display unit may include lowering the luminance of the display unit to increase or decrease the screen brightness of the visual interface” and relatedly as in paragraph 0053 “portable device may deactivate the display unit if the first timer is completely counted down (S130). The portable device may cut off power supplied to the display unit to deactivate the display unit. Deactivation of the display unit may include reducing the brightness of the display unit to darken the display unit”).
Regarding claim 8, the instant claim recites “a computing device comprising”, inter alia, “a proximity-sensitive display; and one or more processors that are operatively coupled to the proximity-sensitive display and are communicatively coupled to a wearable computing system, wherein the one or more processors configured to” perform a method or series of steps that correspond to the computer-implemented method and system components as recited and addressed with respect to claim 1 in the rejection of claim 1 above. In fact claim 8 is broader than claim 1 as it does not require the presentation of a “graphical user interface.” Kim1 as modified as explained above has already been shown to teach such a computing device and proximity-sensitive display and processors operatively coupled to the display and a wearable computing system (see Kim1, paragraphs 0050-0052 teaching “processor 110 of the present invention may be able to execute the contents received via data communications, the contents saved in the storage unit 160 and the like. Moreover, the processor 110 may be able to activate various applications and to process the data inside the device. In addition, the processor (or, main control unit) 110 may be able to control various units of the HMD 100 mentioned in the above description and data transmissions and receptions between the units” and “the steps shown in FIG. 3 may be controlled by the processor 110 of the HMD 100 shown in FIG. 2”). The differently worded final limitation is functionally equivalent as interpreted compared to the final limitation of claim 1 describing the first and second presentation modes as a presentation mode presenting a GUI already must take a first power load and a second mode which has already been addressed that consumes less power than a first presentation mode is a mode that places a second load on a power supply that is less than a first mode as the power supply of the device is what less power would be consumed from. In light of this, the limitations of claim 8 correspond to the limitations of claim 1; thus they are rejected on the same grounds as claim 1 as explained in the rejection of claim 1 and for the reasons above.
Regarding claim 9, the claim further requires the “graphical user interface” of the first presentation mode which has already been addressed with respect to claim 1. In light of this, the limitations of claim 9 correspond to the limitations of claim 1 in the same manner that claim 8 corresponds to claim 1. Thus claim 9 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 1.
Regarding claims 10-15, the limitations of these claims correspond to the limitations of claims 6, 7, 2,3,4 and 5, respectively; thus they are rejected on the same grounds as claims 6, 7, 2,3,4 and 5, respectively.
Claims 16-20 correspond to an embodiment of the computer implemented method of claims 1-5, respectively, embodied as an apparatus in the form of a “computer readable medium”. Kim1 as modified by Kim2 already teaches such a method where Kim1 already teaches the computer implemented method as embodied with respect to a computer readable medium storing program instructions thereon that cause the processor of the computer implemented method to perform the method (see Kim1, paragraphs 0048-0052 teaching “storage unit 160 of the present invention may be able to store various digital data including video, audio, photos, moving pictures, applications and the like. The storage unit 160 may include such a digital data storage space as a flash memory, a random access memory (RAM), a solid state drive (SSD) and the like. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit 160 may be able to temporarily store data received from a digital device via the communication unit 140” and “processor 110 of the present invention may be able to execute the contents received via data communications, the contents saved in the storage unit 160 and the like. Moreover, the processor 110 may be able to activate various applications and to process the data inside the device. In addition, the processor (or, main control unit) 110 may be able to control various units of the HMD 100 mentioned in the above description and data transmissions and receptions between the units” and “the steps shown in FIG. 3 may be controlled by the processor 110 of the HMD 100 shown in FIG. 2” such that here the memory stores instructions for executing the steps for controlling the system corresponding to the technique). In light of this, the limitations of claims 16-20 correspond to the limitations of claims 1-5 respectively; thus they are rejected on the same grounds as claims 1-5, respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Lin et al (US PGPUB No. 20160373645) teaching determination of a visibility of a proximity sensitive display and switching presentation modes including to modes that use less power (see paragraphs 0054-0080). See also Doyen et al (US PGPUB No. 20150187326) teaching a wearable system which also determines visibility of a display and switches presentation modes of the display (see paragraphs 0038-0044).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT E SONNERS whose telephone number is (571)270-7504. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 9-5.
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/SCOTT E SONNERS/Examiner, Art Unit 2613
/XIAO M WU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2613
1 US PGPUB NO. 20140015736
2 US PGPUB No. 20140015736
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