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 .
DETAILED ACTION
CLAIM INTERPRETATION
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
§ 112(f) interpretation despite the absence of “means.”
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “video scaler hardware controller”, “power supply unit”, “facial detection module”, and “distance data-to-user interface size module” in claims 1-20 , and “timing controller” in claim 8 and 20. Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities. The limitation “a distance data-to-user interface size module” is repeated from claim 1. This makes it unclear whether the two claims refer to the same data-to-user interface size module. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-4, 7-17, 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schwesinger (Pub No. US 20190377408 A1) in view of Djavaherian (US 20120287163 A1) and further in view of Vilkhovyi (Pub No. US 20230325037 A1).
As per claim 1, Schwesinger teaches the claimed:
1. A standalone digital display device comprising: a video scaler hardware controller, a scaler memory device, and a power supply unit (PSU) to provide power to the video scaler hardware controller and scaler storage device; (Schwesinger abstract: “Embodiments related to dynamically adjusting a user interface based upon depth information are disclosed. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a method including receiving depth information of a physical space from a depth camera, locating a user within the physical space from the depth information, determining a distance between the user and a display device from the depth information, and adjusting one or more features of a user interface displayed on the display device based on the distance.” The device, including the depth camera is the video scaler hardware controller. Schwesinger teaches scaling a user interface element. Schwesinger [0022]: “User input zone 112 may also be adjusted based on the distance between user 108 and display device 104 (or the distance between user 108 and capture device 106). For example, the user input zone may be scaled down and focused in front of the user as the user moves closer to the capture device. This may allow a user to make relatively finer motions to interact with the user interface, and to ensure that the entire user input zone is within the field of view of the capture device. It will be understood that the size of the user input zone may also be based on a size of the user, which may be determined by the depth information.” The device has a memory. Schwesinger [0046]: “Storage subsystem 504 may include removable media and/or built-in devices. Storage subsystem 504 may include optical memory devices (e.g., CD, DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray Disc, etc.), semiconductor memory devices (e.g., RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.) and/or magnetic memory devices (e.g., hard-disk drive, floppy-disk drive, tape drive, MRAM, etc.), among others. Storage subsystem 504 may include volatile, nonvolatile, dynamic, static, read/write, read-only, random-access, sequential-access, location-addressable, file-addressable, and/or content-addressable devices.” An electronic display device necessarily has a power supply.).
the video scaler hardware controller at the standalone digital display device to receive video data from an operatively coupled information handling system via a wired or wireless connection; (Schwesinger [0014]: “Display device 104 may be operatively connected to entertainment system 102 via a display output of the entertainment system. For example, entertainment system 102 may include an HDMI or other suitable wired or wireless display output. Display device 104 may receive video content from entertainment system 102, and/or it may include a separate receiver configured to receive video content directly from a content provider. Additionally, display device 104 may display the user interface 110 received from entertainment system 102. The user interface 110 may present video content (including gaming and non-gaming video content), menus, control options, or other suitable content to user 108. The user interface 110 displayed on display device 104 may include multiple features, such as images, text, control buttons, etc. User 108 may enter input via user interface 110, for example by selecting one of the displayed features by touching display device 104, performing a specific gesture, issuing a voice command, etc.”).
Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with Djavaherian teaches the claimed:
a visual sensor to capture images of a user's face; the video scaler hardware controller to execute computer-readable program code instructions of a facial detection module to detect facial patterns of a user's face based on the captured images of the user's face at the visual sensor; (Schwesinger teaches detecting where a user is facing. Schwesinger [0025]: “In addition to tracking the distance between the user and the display device and adjusting the user interface accordingly, the direction the user is facing may also be tracked, and the user interface may be adjusted based on a direction the user is facing. For example, if the user turns away from the display device, the user interface may be adjusted to display larger content that may be more useful from the angle at which the user is now viewing the display device. In another example, less personal information may be displayed when the user turns away from the display device, such that the user may be interrupted by another user and turn to interact with the other user, yet feel comfortable that the previously-displayed information is now hidden from view.” Djavaherian teaches detecting certain features of the user’s face to determine dimensions of the face. Djavaherian [0044]: “The operating system 114 receives (block 406) this user input. In addition, the operating system 114 causes the user-facing camera to capture a current image of the user's face, and receives (block 408) this captured image from the camera. Using the captured image, the operating system 114 determines (block 410) the current size or dimensions of a certain feature of the user's face. For purposes of the present invention, any feature of the user's face may be used for this purpose, including but not limited to the distance between the user's eyes, the distance from one side of the user's head to the other, etc. In the following example, it will be assumed that the distance between the user's eyes is the feature that is measured.” Schwesinger [0048]-[0049]: “[0048] In some embodiments, aspects of logic subsystem 502 and of storage subsystem 504 may be integrated together into one or more hardware-logic components through which the functionally described herein may be enacted. Such hardware-logic components may include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), program- and application-specific integrated circuits (PASIC/ASICs), program- and application-specific standard products (PSSP/ASSPs), system-on-a-chip (SOC) systems, and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), for example.
[0049] The term “module” may be used to describe an aspect of computing system 500 implemented to perform a particular function. In some cases, a module may be instantiated via logic subsystem 502 executing instructions held by storage subsystem 504. It will be understood that different modules may be instantiated from the same application, service, code block, object, library, routine, API, function, etc. Likewise, the same module may be instantiated by different applications, services, code blocks, objects, routines, APIs, functions, etc. The term “module” may encompass individual or groups of executable files, data files, libraries, drivers, scripts, database records, etc.”).
the video scaler hardware controller to execute computer-readable program code of a facial sensing-to-distance data translator module to detect facial landmarks of the user's face from the facial patterns within an image of the user's face, detect the distance of the detected facial landmarks of the user's face relative to the standalone digital display device, (The depth camera determines the distance from the user’s face to the device. Schwesinger [0027]: “FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram depicting an embodiment of a method 300 for adjusting a user interface based on a distance of a user from the user interface. The user distance may be measured using depth data received by a depth camera, such as capture device 106, and/or in any other suitable manner.” Djavaherian [0018]: “The user interface components 108 further include one or more distance indicating components 118. These components 118, which in one embodiment are situated on or near the display 116, provide information indicating how far a user's face is from the display 116. Examples of distance indicating components 118 include but are not limited to: an infrared (IR) sensor (which includes an IR emitter and an IR receiver that detects the IR signal reflected from a surface); a laser sensor (which includes a laser emitter and a laser sensor that detects the laser signal reflected from a surface); a SONAR sensor (which includes an audio emitter and an audio sensor that detects the audio signal reflected from a surface); and a user-facing camera. With an IR sensor, the distance between the IR sensor and a surface (e.g. a user's face) may be calculated based upon the intensity of the IR signal that is reflected back from the surface and detected by the IR sensor. With a laser sensor and a SONAR sensor, the distance between the sensor and a surface may be calculated based upon how long it takes for a signal to bounce back from the surface. With a user-facing camera, distance may be determined based upon the dimensions of a certain feature of a user's face (e.g. the distance between the user's eyes). Specifically, the closer a user is to the camera, the larger the dimensions of the feature would be. In one embodiment, the one or more distance indicating components 118 provide the sensor information needed to determine how close a user's face is to the display 116.” These features are the facial landmarks.).
and detect changes in distance of those facial landmarks to generate delta distance data during operation of the standalone digital display device; (Schwesinger [0012]: “Accordingly, embodiments are disclosed that relate to dynamically adapting a user interface based upon a user's distance from the user interface. Briefly, a sensor such as a depth camera may be used to determine a distance between the user and the display device. Then, based on this distance and/or changes in this distance, one or more aspects of a displayed user interface may be adjusted. For example, a size and/or number of features in the user interface may be increased or decreased based upon changes in the user's distance from the user interface. This may help to maintain a desired level of readability and ease of interactivity for the user interface as a user moves within the use environment.” Schwesinger Claim 10: “The method of claim 9, further comprising, if the user is at the first distance, displaying a user interface on the display device with a first number of features and/or with features having a first size, and as the user moves from the first distance to the second distance, changing the user interface to display a second number of features that is different than the first number of features and/or to display features having a second size that is different than the first size.” The difference between the first and second size is the delta distance. Djavaherian teaches detecting specific facial features and determines distance based on them. Djavaherian [0044]: “The operating system 114 receives (block 406) this user input. In addition, the operating system 114 causes the user-facing camera to capture a current image of the user's face, and receives (block 408) this captured image from the camera. Using the captured image, the operating system 114 determines (block 410) the current size or dimensions of a certain feature of the user's face. For purposes of the present invention, any feature of the user's face may be used for this purpose, including but not limited to the distance between the user's eyes, the distance from one side of the user's head to the other, etc. In the following example, it will be assumed that the distance between the user's eyes is the feature that is measured.”).
Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with Vilkhovyi teaches the claimed:
and the video scaler hardware controller to execute computer-readable program code instructions of a distance data-to-user interface size module to translate distance of the user's face to the standalone digital display device to a pixels-per-inch (ppi) screen scale adjustment to adjust the size of the displayed text, icons, or other graphical user interface (GUI) features of the video data received from the operatively coupled information handling system for display on a display screen of the standalone digital display device. (Schwesinger teaches increasing the display size of elements of a screen based on the distance of the user. Schwesinger [0024]: “FIG. 2 illustrates user 108 at a second, greater distance from display device 104. Based on the increased distance between user 108 and display device 104, user interface 110 may be adjusted to display fewer features of a larger size and/or spacing, as a user may have more difficulty selecting smaller elements at a greater distance. Additionally, the size of user input zone 112 may be increased, as described above. This may allow more precise gesture control by allowing for larger user gesture movements relative to a movement of a cursor or other selection control on the display.” These elements would be represented by pixels. Vilkhovyi teaches a camera that is calibrated based on a depth camera for touchless interaction with a user. Vilkovyi [0054]: “The proximal end may be an end that faces a user during use of the device for calibrating an electronic display screen for touchless gesture control. The distal end may be an end on the opposite side with respect to the proximal end of the main body and may in particular be an end that faces the electronic display screen during use of the device for calibrating an electronic display screen.” Vilkhovvi teaches representing a display screen in a pixels-per-inch format to represent the level of detail. Vilkhovyi [0042]: “The pixel density of a display screen is regularly specified in the unit “pixels per inch” (ppi) and/or “pixels per centimeter” (ppcm or pixels/cm). For example, the pixel density of computer monitors, television displays or image digitizing device such as a cameras or image scanners, is regularly given in ppi. Horizontal and vertical pixel density are usually the same, as most devices have square pixels. Other than the resolution, the pixel density describes the amount of detail on a physical surface or device, wherein the resolution describes the amount of pixel information regardless of its scale.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the detection of specific facial features of a user to determine distance of a user as taught by Djavaherian with the system of Schwesinger in order to use a more detailed analysis of a user’s face to determine its distance from the devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
As per claims 9 and 15, these claims are similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 1, and thus are rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 2, Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with Vilkovyi teaches the claimed:
2. The standalone digital display device of claim 1, further comprising: the video scaler hardware controller to receive additional images of the user's face from the visual sensor to monitor the delta distance data of the user's face from the standalone digital display device and dynamically adjust the ppi screen scale adjustments to the size of the displayed text, icons, or other GUI features in the video data based on the detected changes to the distance of the user's face relative to the standalone digital display device. (Schwesinger teaches using a sequence of images with multiple frames to monitor the distance of a user from the device. Schwesinger [0055]: “Computing system 500 may be operatively coupled to the depth camera 520. Depth camera 520 may include an infrared light 522 and a depth camera 524 (also referred to as an infrared light camera) configured to acquire video of a scene including one or more human subjects. The video may comprise a time-resolved sequence of images of spatial resolution and frame rate suitable for the purposes set forth herein. As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the depth camera and/or a cooperating computing system (e.g., computing system 500) may be configured to process the acquired video to identify one or more postures and/or gestures of the user, determine a distance between the user and a display device, and to interpret such postures and/or gestures as device commands configured to control various aspects of computing system 500” The representation of interface elements in ppi is taught above in the rejection to claim 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
As per claim 13, this claim is similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 2, and thus is rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 3, Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with Djavaherian and Vilkhovyi teaches the claimed:
3. The standalone digital display device of claim 2 further comprising:
the video scaler hardware controller to execute computer-readable program code instructions of a distance data-to-user interface size module to translate the delta distance data into the ppi screen scale adjustment to dynamically adjust the size of the displayed text, icons, or other GUI features of the video data by accessing user interface size look-up table to translate a detected changed distance of a user's face to select a corresponding ppi screen scale adjustment for that detected distance of the user's face to the standalone digital display device. (Djavaherian [0033]-[0034]: “[0033] Initially, the operating system 114 receives a request from one of the applications 112 to provide the automatic scaling service. In one embodiment, the request specifies whether comfort mode or zoom mode is desired. In response to the request, the operating system 114 determines (block 302) a current distance between the user's face and the display 116. This may be done by receiving sensor information from the distance determining component (e.g. the IR sensor, laser sensor, SONAR sensor, etc.) and using the sensor information to determine (in the manner described previously) how far the user's face currently is from the display 116.
[0034] Based at least in part upon this current distance, the operating system 114 determines (block 304) a set of scaling factor(s). In one embodiment, the set of scaling factor(s) is determined by accessing an appropriate lookup table (e.g. the comfort mode table or the zoom mode table) generated during the calibration process, and accessing the appropriate entry in the lookup table using the current distance as a key. In many instances, there may not be an exact match between the current distance and a distance in the table. In such a case, the operating system 114 may select the entry with the closest distance value. From that entry, the operating system 114 obtains a set of scaling factor(s). As an alternative to accessing a lookup table, the operating system 114 may calculate the set of scaling factor(s) on the fly. In one embodiment, if the current distance is shorter than the first (closest) distance determined during calibration, the operating system 114 will use the scaling factor(s) provided by the user in association with the first distance. If the current distance is longer than the second (farthest) distance determined during calibration, the operating system 114 will use the scaling factor(s) provided by the user in association with the second distance.” The representation of interface elements in ppi is taught above in the rejection to claim 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the lookup table to determine scaling as taught by Djavaherian with the system of Schwesinger in order to make a lookup table for scaling the GUI interface based on distance from the user to the device to and produce clear measurements for different distance values.
As per claim 12, this claim is similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 3, and thus is rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 4, Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with Vilkhovyi teaches the claimed:
4. The standalone digital display device of claim 1, wherein the video scaler hardware controller executes the computer-readable program code instructions of the distance data-to-user interface size module determine if the delta distance data meets a threshold change in distance before translating the delta distance data into the ppi screen scale adjustments to dynamically adjust the size of the displayed text, icons, or other graphical user interface (GUI) features of the received video data. (Schwesinger [0031]: “In some embodiments, as indicated at 314, the features of the user interface may be adjusted when the distance between the user and the display device reaches a threshold distance. In this way, the displayed features may remain of constant size, number, etc., as the user moves without crossing a threshold distance. However, upon crossing a threshold distance, the user interface may be adjusted. Adjusting the user interface at threshold distances may provide a smoother user interface display in some cases due to the interface not changing for at least a range of distances. In other embodiments, user interface features may be continually adjusted as the user moves. For example, if the user interface is displaying a map, the map may be continually rescaled as the user moves.” The representation of interface elements in ppi is taught above in the rejection to claim 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
As per claims 14 and 16, these claims are similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 4, and thus are rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 7, Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with Vilkhovyi teaches the claimed:
7. The standalone digital display device of claim 1 further comprising: the video scaler hardware controller to execute computer-readable program code instructions of the distance data-to-user interface size module to maintain the ppi screen scale adjustment to the displayed text, icons, or other GUI features when no delta distance data has been detected above a distance change threshold value. (Schwesinger claim 13: “The method of claim 12, wherein the threshold distance is a first threshold distance, and further comprising, as the user moves from the second distance toward the first distance and past the first threshold distance, maintaining the input zone of the user at the second size until a second threshold distance is crossed, and scaling the input zone of the user to the first size upon crossing the second threshold distance.” Schwesinger teaches maintaining the size of the interface element if a certain distance threshold is not yet reached. The representation of interface elements in ppi is taught above in the rejection to claim 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
As per claim 19, this claim is similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 7, and thus is rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 8, Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with Djavaherian and Vilkhovyi teaches the claimed:
8. The standalone digital display device of claim 1, further comprising: the video scaler hardware controller to execute computer-readable program code instructions of a font setting application programming interface (API) to implement the ppi screen scale adjustment to the displayed text, icons, or other GUI features for the received video data at a timing controller of the display screen for the display onboard the standalone digital display device and override display screen settings set by a software application or operating system settings at the operatively coupled information handling system to adjust the size of displayed text, icons, or other GUI features displayed on the standalone digital display device. (Schwesinger teaches using APIs for the scaling. Schwesinger [0040]: “In some embodiments, the methods and processes described above may be tied to a computing system of one or more computing devices. In particular, such methods and processes may be implemented as a computer-application program or service, an application-programming interface (API), a library, and/or other computer-program product.” Djavaherian teaches scaling the font size for interface text. Djavaherian [0010]: “As used herein, the term scaling factor refers generally to any one or more factors that affect the display size of a set of visual content. For example, in the case where the visual content includes text, the scaling factor may include a font size for the text. In the case where the visual content includes graphics, the scaling factor may include a magnification or zoom factor for the graphics.”
Djavaherian teaches receiving timing information to determine the distance of the user related to time and control the interface elements accordingly. This is the timing controller. Djavaherian [0024]: “The operating system 114 receives (block 206) this user input. In addition, the operating system 114 receives some sensor information from the distance determining component (e.g. the IR sensor, the laser sensor, the SONAR sensor, etc.), and uses this information to determine (block 208) the current distance between the user's face and the display 116. In the case of an IR sensor, the operating system 114 receives an intensity value (indicating the intensity of the IR signal sensed by the IR sensor). Based upon this value and perhaps a table of intensity-to-distance values (not shown), the operating system 114 determines a current distance between the user's face and the display 116. In the case of a laser or SONAR sensor, the operating system 114 receives a time value (indicating how long it took for the laser or SONAR signal to bounce back from the user's face). Based upon this value and perhaps a table of timing-to-distance values (not shown), the operating system 114 determines a current distance between the user's face and the display 116. After the current distance is determined, it is stored (block 210) along with the scaling factors; thus, at this point, the operating system 114 knows the first distance and the scaling factor(s) that should be applied at that distance.” The representation of interface elements in ppi is taught above in the rejection to claim 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the font change scaled to a user input as taught by Djavaherian with the system of Schwesinger in order to change the textual interface elements in relation to the distance from the user.
As per claims 10 and 20, these claims are similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 8, and thus are rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 11, Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with Vilkhovyi teaches the claimed:
11. The method of claim 9 further comprising: determining, with the video scaler hardware controller, that the received video data includes streaming video data for display at the standalone digital display device and not override the default user interface size setting from the operatively coupled information handling system with execution of the computer-readable program code instructions of the distance data- to-user interface size module to translate the detected distance of the user's face to the standalone digital display device for the ppi screen scale adjustment. (Schwesinger [0032]: “If the user is positioned near the threshold distance for adjusting the user interface, in some embodiments, some hysteresis may be provided at the threshold to avoid having small movements around the threshold trigger a change in the user interface. For example, upon crossing a threshold in one direction (thereby triggering an adjustment of the user interface), a different threshold may be used to readjust the user interface back to the original layout. This may help to avoid flickering of the user interface between views when a user is located near a distance threshold. Additional detail regarding user interface adjustment based on threshold distances will be presented below with respect to FIG. 4” The representation of interface elements in ppi is taught above in the rejection to claim 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
As per claim 17, this claim is similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 11, and thus is rejected under the same rationale.
Claims 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schwesinger in view of Vilkhovyi and further in view of Djavaherian and further in view of McQueen (Pub No. US 9911398 B1).
As per claim 5, Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with McQueen and Vilkhovyi teaches the claimed:
5. The standalone digital display device of claim 1 further comprising: the video scaler hardware controller to execute the computer-readable program code instructions of the facial detection module to detect a single face of a first user among a plurality of faces in front of the visual sensor and select the single face of the first user among the plurality of faces to detect landmarks of the user's face for the first user and not of the plurality of faces detected by the visual sensor for detecting delta distance data for dynamic adjustments to the ppi screen scale adjustments to displayed text, icons, or other GUI features of the video data. (McQueen teaches presenting content in a different size based on user distance. McQueen col. 9 lines 8-22: “The hub 102 may be configured to detect the proximity of a user and to change the displayed content in response to changing proximity. For example, the hub 102 may initially display passive information like weather, news and notifications. As a user walks toward the hub 102, the hub may switch to more active information about the family's day such as a family dashboard showing notes, lists, notifications, and schedules relating to family activities. Furthermore, content may be presented in different sizes or at different levels of detail depending on user distance. As an example, a user's next appointment may be shown in a large font when the user is far from the hub 102. When the user is close, the hub 102 may alternatively display the schedule for the entire day, week, or month using smaller fonts and graphical elements.” McQueen teaches selecting one user among a group of them. McQueen col. 8 lines 37-44: “The hub 102 may in some embodiments be configured to detect a primary user from among multiple users who are present, and may display information that is customized for the primary user. The primary user may be selected as a user who is directing their attention toward the hub 102, as a user who is gazing at the hub 102, as the user who is nearest to the hub 102, as the most central of the users, or as the user who is farthest from the hub 102.” McQueen teaches detecting face expressions, which requires determining specific facial landmarks. McQueen col. 5 line 63-col. 6 line 14: “The system 100 may include optical and/or surface analysis components 412 that are responsive to data received from various sensors of the display hub 102 to determine information regarding users, objects, and/or surfaces within the room 104. For example, the optical analysis components 412 may have two-dimensional (2D) analysis capabilities 414 for receiving and analyzing 2D images of a scene within the home 104. The 2D analysis capabilities 414 may analyze the images to detect the presence, identities, distances, and/or positions of users, to determine positions, distances, and/or movements of user body parts such as hands and faces, to detect gestures or other movements, to detect face expressions, to determine positions and/or distances of non-human objects such as furniture, etc. The optical analysis components 412 may also be configured to identify products and other articles by optical inspection and/or shape analysis and by comparing images to reference databases containing indexed or tagged images.” The representation of interface elements in ppi is taught above in the rejection to claim 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the selection of a primary user among a group of users as taught by McQueen with the system of Schwesinger in order to base the distance measurement on a specific view.
As per claim 6, Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with McQueen and Vilkovyi teaches the claimed:
6. The standalone digital display device of claim 1 further comprising: the video scaler hardware controller to execute the computer-readable program code instructions of the facial detection module to detect a centrally-located face among a plurality of faces of users in front of the visual sensor and select the centrally-located face to detect landmarks of the user's face for detecting distance of the centrally-located face to the standalone digital display device to determine the ppi screen scale adjustment to displayed text, icons, or other GUI features of the video data. (McQueen teaches presenting content in a different size based on user distance. McQueen col. 9 lines 8-22: “The hub 102 may be configured to detect the proximity of a user and to change the displayed content in response to changing proximity. For example, the hub 102 may initially display passive information like weather, news and notifications. As a user walks toward the hub 102, the hub may switch to more active information about the family's day such as a family dashboard showing notes, lists, notifications, and schedules relating to family activities. Furthermore, content may be presented in different sizes or at different levels of detail depending on user distance. As an example, a user's next appointment may be shown in a large font when the user is far from the hub 102. When the user is close, the hub 102 may alternatively display the schedule for the entire day, week, or month using smaller fonts and graphical elements.” McQueen teaches selecting a centrally located user among a group of them. McQueen col. 8 lines 37-44: “The hub 102 may in some embodiments be configured to detect a primary user from among multiple users who are present, and may display information that is customized for the primary user. The primary user may be selected as a user who is directing their attention toward the hub 102, as a user who is gazing at the hub 102, as the user who is nearest to the hub 102, as the most central of the users, or as the user who is farthest from the hub 102.” McQueen teaches detecting face expressions, which requires determining specific facial landmarks. McQueen col. 5 line 63-col. 6 line 14: “The system 100 may include optical and/or surface analysis components 412 that are responsive to data received from various sensors of the display hub 102 to determine information regarding users, objects, and/or surfaces within the room 104. For example, the optical analysis components 412 may have two-dimensional (2D) analysis capabilities 414 for receiving and analyzing 2D images of a scene within the home 104. The 2D analysis capabilities 414 may analyze the images to detect the presence, identities, distances, and/or positions of users, to determine positions, distances, and/or movements of user body parts such as hands and faces, to detect gestures or other movements, to detect face expressions, to determine positions and/or distances of non-human objects such as furniture, etc. The optical analysis components 412 may also be configured to identify products and other articles by optical inspection and/or shape analysis and by comparing images to reference databases containing indexed or tagged images.” The representation of interface elements in ppi is taught above in the rejection to claim 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the selection of the central face as taught by McQueen with the system of Schwesinger in order to choose the user that is most directly facing the device and to get the most accurate distance measurement based on knowing the position of the center.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schwesinger in view of Djavaherian and further in view of Vilkhovyi and further in view of Kerr (Pub No. US 9092053 B2).
As per claim 18, Schwesinger alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Schwesinger in combination with Kerr and Vilkhovyi teaches the claimed:
18. The standalone digital display device of claim 15 further comprising: the video scaler hardware controller receiving an instruction to turn off the execution of the distance data-to-user interface size module adjustments to the ppi screen scale on board the standalone digital display device along with the video data received from the operatively coupled information handling system; (Kerr abstract: “An electronic device for providing a display that changes based on the user's perspective is provided. The electronic device may include a sensing mechanism operative to detect the user's position relative a display of the electronic device. For example, the electronic device may include a camera operative to detect the position of the user's head. Using the detected position, the electronic device may be operative to transform displayed objects such that the displayed perspective reflects the detected position of the user. The electronic device may use any suitable approach for modifying a displayed object, including for example a parallax transform or a perspective transform. In some embodiments, the electronic device may overlay the environment detected by the sensing mechanism (e.g., by a camera) to provide a more realistic experience for the user (e.g., display a reflection of the image detected by the camera on reflective surfaces of a displayed object).
Kerr col. 3 line 65- col. “FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an electronic device in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Electronic device 100 may include display 104, sensing mechanism 106, and control circuitry 110. In some embodiments, electronic device 100 may include other components, including for example, an input mechanism, an audio output component, communications circuitry, a power supply, ports or interfaces for coupling to a host device, a secondary input mechanism (e.g., an ON/OFF switch), or any other suitable component.”).
and the video scaler hardware controller to maintain display screen settings set by a software application or operating system settings at the operatively coupled information handling system for the received video data. (Schwesinger [0048]-[0050]: “[0048] In some embodiments, aspects of logic subsystem 502 and of storage subsystem 504 may be integrated together into one or more hardware-logic components through which the functionally described herein may be enacted. Such hardware-logic components may include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), program- and application-specific integrated circuits (PASIC/ASICs), program- and application-specific standard products (PSSP/ASSPs), system-on-a-chip (SOC) systems, and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), for example.
[0049] The term “module” may be used to describe an aspect of computing system 500 implemented to perform a particular function. In some cases, a module may be instantiated via logic subsystem 502 executing instructions held by storage subsystem 504. It will be understood that different modules may be instantiated from the same application, service, code block, object, library, routine, API, function, etc. Likewise, the same module may be instantiated by different applications, services, code blocks, objects, routines, APIs, functions, etc. The term “module” may encompass individual or groups of executable files, data files, libraries, drivers, scripts, database records, etc.
[0050] It will be appreciated that a “service”, as used herein, is an application program executable across multiple user sessions. A service may be available to one or more system components, programs, and/or other services. In some implementations, a service may run on one or more server-computing devices.” The representation of interface elements in ppi is taught above in the rejection to claim 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the representation of a screen pixel density in the format “pixels per inch” as taught by Vilkhovyi with the system of Schwesinger in order to mathematically convert the distance between the user and the device to characteristics of the screen.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the on/off switch for the user input system as taught by Kerr with the system of Schwesinger in order to allow a device to deactivate its dynamic adjustment setting depending on if the user wants to keep a regular size for the interface elements.
Conclusion
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/THOMAS JOHN FOSTER/Examiner, Art Unit 2616
/HAI TAO SUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2616
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