DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
Applicant’s submission of Information Disclosure Statements on 1/30/2025 and 9/30/2025 have been received and considered.
Preliminary Amendment
Applicant’s submission of a preliminary amendment on 11/30/2020 has been received. In the amendment, claim 1 was amended, claims 12-19 were canceled and claims 20-27 were added.
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, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 20, 22, and 25-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0283728 to Hollemans in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0169702 o Houston.
With regard to claim 1, Hollemans discloses a computer-implemented method comprising:
obtaining, by a video game system (e.g., see at least paragraph 18 that discusses a “game console” and paragraph 33 that discusses a “display surface 119 of the display 118, which for example an interactive game board”), positional data (e.g., see at least paragraph 47 that discusses position of game objects);
generating, based on the positional data, by a processor of the video game system (e.g., see at least paragraph 47 that discusses a “processor uses the information about the positions of the object 30, 40”), a directional hint to be signaled to the video game player, wherein the directional hint comprises at least one of an action and a direction (e.g., see at least paragraph 42 that discusses “the user gets a hint on direction, which is the direction at the side where the vibrating vibration unit 221, 222, 223, or 224 is located”);
receiving, at a peripheral device of the video game system (e.g., see at least paragraph 49 that discusses the object may be “computer peripheral, such as a mouse or a joystick”), the directional hint (e.g., see at least paragraph 42 that discusses “the user gets a hint on direction, which is the direction at the side where the vibrating vibration unit 221, 222, 223, or 224 is located”); and vibrating a peripheral device in the direction of the directional hint by actuating a vibration device of the peripheral device in the direction of the directional hint (e.g., see at least paragraph 42 that discusses “the user gets a hint on direction, which is the direction at the side where the vibrating vibration unit 221, 222, 223, or 224 is located”);
[claim 2] wherein the positional data comprises video game data (e.g., see at least paragraph 18 that discusses a “game console” and paragraph 33 that discusses a “display surface 119 of the display 118, which for example an interactive game board”);
[claim 4] wherein the video game system comprises a video game console and the peripheral device (e.g., see at least paragraph 18 that discusses a “game console” and paragraph 33 that discusses a “display surface 119 of the display 118, which for example an interactive game board”; see also paragraph 49 that discusses the object may be “computer peripheral, such as a mouse or a joystick”);
[claim 5] wherein peripheral device is a handheld video game controller (e.g., see at least paragraph 49 that discusses the object may be “computer peripheral, such as a mouse or a joystick”); and
[claim 10] wherein the action comprises controlling an aspect of the video game in the direction of the directional hint (e.g., see at least paragraph 42 that discusses “the user gets a hint on direction, which is the direction at the side where the vibrating vibration unit 221, 222, 223, or 224 is located”).
With regard to claims 1, 9, 20, and 25, Hollemans discloses all of the recited features but is silent regarding the vibration device being a moveable weight that is actuated in a direction to signal and back when the signal is complete. As set forth above, Hollemans discloses a vibration device that likely anticipates a moveable weight, but for purposes of compact prosecution a secondary reference is relied upon that expressly teaches a moveable mass.
In the same field of endeavor, Houston teaches a vibration device in a game controller that includes moveable weight (e.g., see at least Fig. 4, including vibration device 100 and weight/mass 102; see also paragraphs 228-230 for discussion of Fig. 4 and moving mass 102).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current invention to modify Hollemans with the weight distribution biased in a direction as taught by Houston in order to use a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way. In this case, using a movable weight provides a noticeable action that can felt by the user to indicate an alert.
With regard to system claims 20, 22, 25, and 26, Hollemans in combination with Houston makes obvious each of the recited features based on the same analysis set forth above for the method of claims 1, 5-8, and 10, which are similar in claim scope.
With regard to the non-transitory computer-readable medium media of claim 27, Hollemans in combination with Houston makes obvious each of the recited features based on the same analysis set forth above for the method of claim 1, which is similar in claim scope.
Claims 3 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hollemans in view of Houston as applied to claims 1 and 20 above, and further in view of WO 2008/052254 to McNamara.
With regard to claims 3 and 21 Hollemans is silent regarding the video game data comprises the position of a video game character in a video game environment.
In the same field of endeavor, McNamara teaches the video game data comprises the position of a video game character in a video game environment (e.g., see at least Fig. 4 that shows a game character and direction-based hints; see also paragraph 54 for discussion of hints).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current invention to modify Hollemans with a game having a game character as taught by McNamara in order to use a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way. In this case, games with game characters are commonly used to simulate real-world situations that are exciting/enjoyable for the game player.
Claims 6-8, 11, 23, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hollemans in view of Houston as applied to claims 1 and 20 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0378280 to Cho.
With regard to claims 6-8, Hollemans is silent regarding (claim 6) the peripheral device is a virtual reality headset, (claim 7 and 23) wherein the positional data comprises image data captured by one or more cameras of the virtual reality headset; and (claims 8, 11, and 24) wherein: the image data indicates the presence of an object proximal to the video game player; and the processor is configured to generate the directional hint in a direction away from the object based on the image data;
In the same field of endeavor, Cho teaches (claim 6) the peripheral device is a virtual reality headset (e.g., see at least Fig. 24, headset 2450, (claims 7 and 23) wherein the positional data comprises image data captured by one or more cameras of the virtual reality headset (e.g., see at least Fig. 24, cameras 2410; ; see also paragraph 7 that states that it is convention for cameras to also be embedded in the HMD); and (claims 8 and 24) wherein: the image data indicates the presence of an object proximal to the video game player; and the processor is configured to generate the directional hint in a direction away from the object based on the image data (e.g., see at least paragraph 17 that discusses using cameras to detect a VR user of a real-world objects and warning the user about a potential collision with the real-world object).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current invention to modify Hollemans with a headset and camera for VR user and real-world object collision avoidance as taught by Cho in order to use a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way. In this case, using a camera to detect real-world objects and providing an alert for collision avoidance will reduce injuries or property damage.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0302902 to Sangston discusses a head mounted display that detects real-world objects and provides hints with arrows (e.g., see at least paragraph 67 and 85).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0301962 to Lu discusses a game device with a movable weight (e.g., see at least Figs. 1, 2 and 5).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0232168 to Benedetto discusses a game system with direction hints (e.g., see at least paragraph 70).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0080112 to Braun discusses a directional tactile feedback for haptic feedback interface devices (e.g., see at least Fig. 5a).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES S MCCLELLAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7167. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM).
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/James S. McClellan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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