DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
2. In response to the amendment filed 06 July 2026, claims 1-14 and 16-20 remain pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Claims 1-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Daga et al. (US 2019/0347956 A1) in view of Thielen et al. (US 2019/0019321 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Daga discloses a method for providing visual guidance for sports training, the method comprising:
storing, in a memory, previously recorded motions of a first person holding first hand-held sports equipment, the previously recorded motions including motions of a body of the first person and motions of the first hand-held sports equipment (reference data/template, which may be based on prerecorded motions of a first person – see Par’s. 125-126, 138, 145; the motion data including motions of a body and of sports equipment such as a bat – Par’s. 135, 137);
capturing, with at least one sensor, real-time motions of a second person holding second hand-held sports equipment, the second hand-held sports equipment being of a same type as the first hand-held sports equipment, the real-time motions including motions of a body of the second person and motions of the second hand-held sports equipment (visual data capture mechanisms and other sensors capture motions of a second person and equipment held by the person, such as a bat – Par. 124); and
determining, with a processor, differences between the real-time motions of the second person and the previously recorded motions of the first person (comparative analysis of the user with the reference data/other player(s) – Par. 146).
Daga does not appear to explicitly disclose displaying, on a display of an augmented reality device worn by the second person, a visualization including a virtual arm holding virtual sports equipment that is animated according to the previously recorded motions of the first person, the virtual arm being superimposed upon an arm of the second person. However, Thielen discloses this feature of displaying superimposed figures, including arms holding sports equipment (see Fig. 2F), of a previously recorded motions of a first person (expert avatar 208), and motions of a second person (student avatar 210), wherein the virtual arm of the first person is superimposed upon the arm of the second person (see Par’s. 73-74, specifically lines 7-8 of Par. 74: “expert 208 behind student 210 or vice versa”. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Daga by including this superimposed view taught by Thielen. Such a modification would be a use of a known technique to improve similar methods in the same way.
Regarding claims 2-6, 8, 9 and 11, Daga further discloses the capturing the real-time motions further comprising: determining a second sequence of human pose data having frames that each define positions of a second plurality of joints of the second person at a respective time; and determining a second sequence of object pose data having frames that each define a pose of the second hand-held sports equipment at a respective time (data comprises a plurality of data points for a plurality of actions and poses in physical motions of the players – Par. 19) (as per claim 2),
the capturing the real-time motions further comprising: capturing video of the real-time motions of the second person holding the second hand-held sports equipment using a camera arranged externally to the augmented reality device; and determining, based on the video, the second sequence of human pose data using a human pose estimation algorithm (Par. 30) (as per claim 3),
the capturing the real-time motions further comprising: capturing inertial data of the motions of the second hand-held sports equipment using an inertial measurement unit arranged on the second hand-held sports equipment; and determining, based on the inertial data and the video, the second sequence of object pose data (Par. 24) (as per claim 4),
the capturing the real-time motions further comprising: determining, based on the video, a respective position of the second hand-held sports equipment for each frame in the second sequence of object pose data; and determining, based on the inertial data, an orientation of the second hand-held sports equipment for each frame in the second sequence of object pose data (Par’s. 24, 194) (as per claim 5),
the determining the differences further comprising: determining first differences between the motions of the body of the second person and the motions of the body of the first person; and determining second differences between the motions of the second hand-held sports equipment and the motions of the first hand-held sports equipment (analytics module analyzes signals at multiple levels including bat mechanics and movement of the player – Par. 177) (as per claim 6),
(i) the previously recorded motions include a first sequence of object pose data having frames (pose data at each data point – Par. 50) that each define a quaternion of the first hand-held sports equipment at a respective time (Par. 26, 199) and (ii) the real-time motions include a second sequence of object pose data having frames that each define a quaternion of the second hand-held sports equipment at a respective time (Par. 26, 199), the determining second differences further comprising: determining the second differences by (i) determining quaternion dissimilarities between the second sequence of object pose data and the first sequence of object pose data (Par’s. 26-199) and (ii) aligning the second sequence of object pose data with the first sequence of object pose data, based on the quaternion dissimilarities using dynamic time warping (Par’s. 204-205) (as per claim 8),
the displaying the visualization further comprising: displaying a first virtual human avatar holding virtual sports equipment that is animated according to the previously recorded motions of the first person, the first virtual human avatar being superimposed on an environment in front of the second person (see Fig’s 19-20) (as per claim 9), and
the displaying the visualization further comprising: displaying a second virtual human avatar holding virtual sports equipment that is animated according to the real-time motions of the second person, the second virtual human avatar being superimposed on an environment in front of the second person (see Fig’s. 21-22) (as per claim 11).
Regarding claim 7, Daga further discloses (i) the previously recorded motions include a first sequence of human pose data having frames that each define positions of the first person at a respective time (poses of a player from a plurality of data points) and (ii) the real-time motions include a second sequence of human pose data having frames that each define positions of the second person at a respective time, the determining first differences further comprising: calculating a first sequence of quaternion vectors based on the first sequence of human pose data; calculating a second sequence of quaternion vectors based on the second sequence of human pose data; and determining the first differences by (i) determining quaternion dissimilarities between the second sequence of quaternion vectors and the first sequence of quaternion vectors and (ii) aligning the second sequence of quaternion vectors with the first sequence of quaternion vectors, based on the quaternion dissimilarities using dynamic time warping (see Par’s. 26, 95-98, 201). Daga does not appear to explicitly disclose the data is related to joint angle data. However, Thielen further discloses providing analysis of joint data in relation to the animation data (see e.g. Par’s. 39, 110). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Daga by including the joint angle analysis of Thielen, to obtain predictable results of providing a more detailed analysis of the user’s body movements.
Regarding claims 10, 12-14 and 16-20, Daga does not explicitly disclose, but Thielen further discloses:
the displaying the visualization further comprising: adjusting, based on a user input received from the second person, an animation speed of the first virtual human avatar (Par. 21 – mechanisms in place to synch timing and speed of playback) (as per claim 10),
the displaying the second virtual human avatar further comprising: determining, based on the determined differences, at least one joint of the second person that is incorrectly positioned during the real-time motions of the second person; and displaying the second virtual human avatar including a visual indication of the at least one joint that is incorrectly positioned during the real-time motions of the second person (see Fig. 2F) (as per claim 12),
determining the at least one joint of the second person that is incorrectly positioned further comprising: comparing the determined differences with at least one threshold; and adjusting the at least one threshold based on a user input received from the second person (thresholds may be set and reset – Par. 212) (as per claim 13),
the displaying the second virtual human avatar further comprising: determining, based on the determined differences, that the second hand-held sports equipment held by the second person is incorrectly positioned or oriented during the real-time motions of the second person; and displaying the second virtual human avatar including a visual indication that the second hand-held sports equipment is incorrectly positioned or oriented during the real-time motions of the second person (Par’s. 154-157) (as per claim 14),
the displaying the virtual arm further comprising: determining, based on the determined differences, that the second person has performed an incorrect motion during the real-time motions; and displaying the virtual arm holding virtual sports equipment in response to determining that the second person has performed an incorrect motion (display expert avatar overlapping student avatar to show incorrect motions – Par. 73, Fig. 2F) (as per claim 16),
the displaying the virtual arm further comprising: displaying the virtual arm including a visual indication of a motion trajectory of an arm of the first person in the previously recorded motions of the first person (Par. 161) (as per claim 17),
the displaying the virtual arm further comprising: displaying the virtual sports equipment including a visual indication of a motion trajectory of the first hand-held sports equipment held by the first person in the previously recorded motions of the first person (in Fig. 2F) (as per claim 18),
the displaying the virtual arm further comprising: determining, based on the determined differences, at least one joint of the arm of the second person that is incorrectly positioned during the real-time motions of the second person; and displaying the virtual arm including a visual indication of the at least one joint that is incorrectly positioned during the real-time motions of the second person (the positions of the arms of the avatars reflect the incorrectly positioned joints – Fig. 2F, Par. 136) (as per claim 19), and
the displaying the virtual arm further comprising: determining, based on the determined differences, that the second hand-held sports equipment held by the second person is incorrectly positioned or oriented during the real-time motions of the second person; and displaying the virtual sports equipment held by the virtual arm including a visual indication that the second hand-held sports equipment is incorrectly positioned or oriented during the real-time motions of the second person (Par. 136) (as per claim 20).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to further modify the teachings of Daga by including these analysis and feedback features of Thielen, to obtain predictable results of providing more detailed feedback to the user regarding the comparison of the user’s motions with the reference motions.
Response to Arguments
6. Applicant’s arguments with respect to the section 101 rejection as they pertain to amended claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The section 101 rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments with respect to the section 102 rejection of claim 1 and 103 rejection of claim 15 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Thielen does not disclose the claimed configuration of superimposed arms of first and second persons in claim 1, and specifically that Thielen’s superimposition is the opposite of that which is claimed. For clarity, Thielen’s expert avatar 208 is interpreted as corresponding to the “first person” and the previously recorded motions, and Thielen’s student avatar 210 is interpreted as corresponding to the “second person” who is wearing the AR device. Claim 1 recites that the virtual arm of the first person (Thielen’s expert 208) is superimposed upon the virtual arm of the second person (Thielen’s student 210). Fig. 2F clearly shows that the expert 208 is in front of, or superimposed upon the student 210, and Par. 73 states that the two avatars may be overlapped, up to a “maximum overlap”. Accordingly, Thielen discloses superimposing a previously recorded virtual arm over an arm of the person wearing the AR device as claimed.
Conclusion
7. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER EGLOFF whose telephone number is (571)270-3548. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xuan Thai can be reached at (571) 272-7147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Peter R Egloff/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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