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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged that application claims priority to foreign application with application number KR10-2022-0099073 dated 08/09/2022. Copies of certified papers required by 37 CFR 1.55 have been received. Priority is acknowledged under 35 USC 119(e) and 37 CFR 1.78.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS dated 02/06/2025 has been considered and placed in the application file.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-4 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites the limitation “changing the pose of a virtual camera in a virtual space where a point cloud video is played, by applying the pose information to the virtual camera”. Here the phrase “the pose of a virtual camera” should be rewritten to “a pose of a virtual camera”.
Claims 2-4 are objected to by virtue of dependency.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4-6, and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication US 2019/0371051 A1, (Dore et al.) (hereinafter “Dore”).
Regarding claim 1, Dore teaches a point cloud video streaming method comprising: (Dore “[Abstract] Method and device for generating a stream of data representative of a 3D point cloud…”; “[0006-0007] The present disclosure relates to a method of generating a stream comprising data representative of an object of a scene , the method comprising…”)
receiving pose information from a user terminal: (Dore “[0009] …a point comprised in the three - dimensional part , the two - dimensional parametrization being responsive to geometric information associated with the at least a point and to pose information associated with the range of points of view…”; “[0075] …the gaze or the pose of the user is determined with a tracking system , for example an infrared tracking system , the user wearing infrared sensors . According to another variant , the immersive system is a tablet with a tactile display screen , the user browsing into the content by scrolling the content with one or more fingers sliding onto the tactile display screen.”)
changing the pose of a virtual camera in a virtual space where a point cloud video is played, by applying the pose information to the virtual camera; (Dore “[0075] …The part 11 of the immersive content 10 corresponding to the measured position of the HMD is advantageously determined with a specific function establishing the relationship between the point of view associated with the HMD in the real world and the point of view of a virtual camera associated with the immersive content 10…the gaze or the pose of the user is determined with a tracking system , for example an infrared tracking system , the user wearing infrared sensors . According to another variant, the immersive system is a tablet with a tactile display screen , the user browsing into the content by scrolling the content with one or more fingers sliding onto the tactile display screen.”)
rendering an image texture of the point cloud video corresponding to a viewpoint of the virtual camera with the changed pose; and (Dore “[0071] …images of this / these object ( s ) from the generated data stream . The object ( s ) of the scene is ( are ) represented with a three dimensional ( 3D ) point cloud according to a determined range of points of view . The point cloud is for example obtained from images of the scene , each image representing the scene or a part of it according to a different point of view within the determined range of points of view . The 3D point cloud is partitioned into a plurality of 3D elementary parts that each comprise one or more points of the 3D point cloud . A set of two - dimensional ( 2D ) parametrizations is determined , each 2D parametrization representing one 3D part of the point cloud with a set of parameters . Each 3D part is represented with one or more 2D pixel representations via some parameters for each 2D pixel representation . A depth map ( also called height map ) and a color map ( also called texture map ) are determined for and associated with each 3D part using the parameters of the 2D parametrizations associated with each 3D part . The obtained depth maps are represented in a first patch atlas ( a patch of the first patch atlas corresponding to one depth map ) and the obtained color maps are represented in a second patch atlas ( a patch of the second patch atlas corresponding to one color map)…”; “[0072] On the decoder / rendered side , the point cloud may be reconstructed by decoding / extracting from the stream the parameters of the 2D parametrizations and associated height and texture maps…”; “[0074] …A part 11 of the immersive content 10 corresponds for example to the part of the immersive content displayed ( called viewport ) onto a display device adapted to visualize immersive contents, the size of the part 11 being for example equal to the field of view provided by the display device.”)
transmitting video data with the rendered image texture to the user terminal (Dore “[0189] The present disclosure also relates to a method ( and device configured ) for transmitting and / or receiving the stream.”; “[0184] FIG . 11 shows an example of an embodiment of the syntax of such a signal when the data are transmitted over a packet - based transmission protocol . FIG . 11 shows an example structure 1100 of an immersive video stream . The structure consists in container which organizes the stream in independent syntax elements . The structure may comprise a header part 1101 which is a set of data common to every syntax elements of the stream . For example , the header part contains metadata about syntax elements , describing the nature and the role of each of them . The header part may also comprise the first mapping information , and optionally the second and third mapping information…”)
Claim 5 is directed to a point cloud video streaming apparatus comprising: (Dore “[0151] The implementations described herein may be implemented in, for example, a method or a process , an apparatus , a computer program product , a data stream , or a signal…”) and its scope and functions are substantially similar to the steps performed by the method claim 1 and therefore claim 5 is also rejected with the same rationale as specified in the rejection of claim 1.
Claim 9 is directed to a point cloud video streaming system comprising: (Dore “[0151] The implementations described herein may be implemented in, for example, a method or a process , an apparatus , a computer program product , a data stream , or a signal…”) and its scope and functions are substantially similar to the steps performed by the method claim 1 and therefore claim 9 is also rejected with the same rationale as specified in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claims 2 and 6, Dore teaches wherein the receiving the pose information comprises receiving inertial measurement unit (IMU) information of the user terminal (Dore “[0075] The display device used to visualize the immersive content 10 is for example a HMD ( Head - Mounted Display ) , worn on the head of a user or as part of a helmet . The HMD advantageously comprises one or more display screens ( for example LCD ( Liquid Crystal Display ) , OLED ( Organic Light - Emitting Diode ) or LCOS ( Liquid Crystal On Sili con ) and sensor ( s ) configured for measuring the change ( s ) of position of the HMD , for example gyroscopes or an IMU ( Inertial Measurement Unit ) , according to one , two or three axes of the real world ( pitch , yaw and / or roll axis )…”)
Regarding claims 4, 8, and 10, Dore teaches further comprising, when point cloud data corresponding to the point cloud video is received, playing the point cloud video in the virtual space by decoding and rendering a video of each of channels included in the point cloud data (Dore “[0072] On the decoder / rendered side , the point cloud may be reconstructed by decoding / extracting from the stream the parameters of the 2D parametrizations and associated height and texture maps and one or more images of the object ( s ) may be rendered from the point cloud.”; “[0071] …images of this / these object ( s ) from the generated data stream . The object ( s ) of the scene is ( are ) represented with a three dimensional ( 3D ) point cloud according to a determined range of points of view . The point cloud is for example obtained from images of the scene , each image representing the scene or a part of it according to a different point of view within the determined range of points of view . The 3D point cloud is partitioned into a plurality of 3D elementary parts that each comprise one or more points of the 3D point cloud . A set of two - dimensional ( 2D ) parametrizations is determined , each 2D parametrization representing one 3D part of the point cloud with a set of parameters . Each 3D part is represented with one or more 2D pixel representations via some parameters for each 2D pixel representation . A depth map ( also called height map ) and a color map ( also called texture map ) are determined for and associated with each 3D part using the parameters of the 2D parametrizations associated with each 3D part . The obtained depth maps are represented in a first patch atlas ( a patch of the first patch atlas corresponding to one depth map ) and the obtained color maps are represented in a second patch atlas ( a patch of the second patch atlas corresponding to one color map)…”)
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.
Claims 3 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable and obvious over Dore in view of US Patent Application Publication US 20150220143 A1, (CHOI et al.) (hereinafter “Choi”).
Regarding claims 3 and 7, Dore teaches wherein the receiving the pose information comprises receiving…including the pose information from the user terminal, and (Dore “[0009] …a point comprised in the three - dimensional part , the two - dimensional parametrization being responsive to geometric information associated with the at least a point and to pose information associated with the range of points of view…”; “[0075] …the gaze or the pose of the user is determined with a tracking system , for example an infrared tracking system , the user wearing infrared sensors . According to another variant , the immersive system is a tablet with a tactile display screen , the user browsing into the content by scrolling the content with one or more fingers sliding onto the tactile display screen.”)
wherein the changing of the pose of the virtual camera…(Dore “[0075] …The part 11 of the immersive content 10 corresponding to the measured position of the HMD is advantageously determined with a specific function establishing the relationship between the point of view associated with the HMD in the real world and the point of view of a virtual camera associated with the immersive content 10…the gaze or the pose of the user is determined with a tracking system , for example an infrared tracking system , the user wearing infrared sensors . According to another variant, the immersive system is a tablet with a tactile display screen , the user browsing into the content by scrolling the content with one or more fingers sliding onto the tactile display screen.”)
However, Dore is silent about a pose matrix…obtains a location coordinate value, yaw information, pitch information and roll information of the user terminal from the pose matrix and changes the pose of the virtual camera by applying the location coordinate value, the yaw information, the pitch information and the roll information to the virtual camera.
Choi teaches …a pose matrix…obtains a location coordinate value, yaw information, pitch information and roll information of the user terminal from the pose matrix and changes the pose of the virtual camera by applying the location coordinate value, the yaw information, the pitch information and the roll information to the virtual camera (Choi “[Abstract] …and a virtual camera pose changing unit configured to, using the motion data, change a pose of the placed virtual camera to respond to the viewpoint change of the user.”; “[0061] …the scene constructing unit 300 may calibrate the scene by dynamically adjusting the location of the virtual camera in the virtual space using the camera parameter (for example, the camera lens parameter or the camera stabilization parameter) so that the calibrated image may be rendered. In one embodiment, the scene constructing unit 300 may calibrate the scene by transforming the projection geometry in a state that the virtual camera is fixed. For example, the scene constructing unit 300 may move the projection geometry upwards, downwards, leftwards, and rightwards, or in the directions defined by yaw, pitch, and roll.”; “[0009] …the pose of the virtual camera may include an orientation or a location of the virtual camera.”; “[0016] …adjusting a location of the virtual camera using the camera stabilization parameter.”; “[0042] …the sensor unit 100 may sense the viewpoint change of the user using the vision sensor and the IMU sensor together. In this case, the sensor unit may use a method which unites coordinate systems by calibrating information obtained from the two sensors…”)
Dore and Choi are analogous art as both of them are related to obtaining or rendering images.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Dore by a pose matrix…obtains a location coordinate value, yaw information, pitch information and roll information of the user terminal from the pose matrix and changes the pose of the virtual camera by applying the location coordinate value, the yaw information, the pitch information and the roll information to the virtual camera as taught by Choi and use that within Dore’s immersive reality system.
The motivation for the above is for improved immersive reality experiences.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Application Publication US 20160343166 A1 (INOKO) discloses combining a virtual space with a subject in real time
US Patent Application Publication US 20170163929 A1 (Maliuk et al.) discloses a video stream encoding system with live cropping
US Patent US 12602835 B2 (Oh et al.) discloses encoding and transmitting point cloud data
US Patent US 11218683 B2 (Pesonen et al.) discloses generating a 3D segment of a scene of a content with a 2D view of a virtual camera by encoding
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMELIA VELAZQUEZ VALENCIA whose telephone number is (571)272-7418. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Said A. Broome can be reached at (571) 272-2931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.V.V/Examiner, Art Unit 2612
/Said Broome/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2612
Date: 06/24/2026
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