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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-5, 8-12 and 15-18 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-4, 6, 8 and 15 of U.S. Patent No. 12/265,664 in view of Harviainen et al. (WO 2019/143572). The claims of the patent discloses all claimed limitations of the instant application except selecting a first user device of the set of user devices having an oldest timestamp as a reference device. However, in a similar field of endeavor of the virtual reality system, Harviainen discloses selecting a first user device of the set of user devices having an oldest timestamp as a reference device (one of the VR HMDs is a master device 110, the master is the first VR HMD device to initialize a shared section, para. 0056). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the reference device as taught by Harviainen in the system of the patent in order to obtain a standard device by a convenient manner (para. 0056).
Instant application (claim 1)
U.S. 12/265,664 (claim 1)
A method for aligning user devices in an eXtended Reality (XR) environment, comprising:
A method for aligning user devices in an extended Reality (XR) environment, comprising:
capturing, by a set of user devices, respective timestamps upon entering an XR session;
capturing, by a first user device of the user devices, first one or more positions of one or more somatic points of a hand of a user,
selecting a first user device of the set of user devices having an oldest timestamp as a reference device;
generating, by the first user device, a reference data set using the first one or more positions of the one or more somatic points in the first coordinate system;
capturing, by the first user device, as set of positions of somatic points of a hand in a coordinate system of the first user device;
the first one or more positions of the one or more somatic points in a first coordinate system of the first user device;
generating a reference data set using the set of positions;
generating a reference data set using the first one or more positions;
transmitting the reference data set to one or more second user devices of the set of user devices; and
transmitting, by the first user device, the reference data set to the second user device of the user devices;
aligning the one or more second user devices to the coordinate system of the first user device using the reference data set.
aligning, by the second user device, the second user device to the first user device by using the common reference coordinate system as the second coordinate system of the second user device.
Regarding claims 2 and 9, see claim 2 of the patent.
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 16, see claim 3 of the patent.
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 17, see claim 4 of the patent.
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 18, see claim 6 of the patent.
Regarding claim 8, see claim 8 of the patent.
Regarding claim 15, see claim 15 of the patent.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harviainen in view of Chen (US 2024/0112421).
Regarding claim 1, Harviainen discloses a method for aligning user devices in an eXtended Reality (XR) environment (a method in which several VR and AR HMDs can join and participate in a shared VR/AR section when said HMDs are in the same physical space, para. 0044), comprising:
capturing, by a set of user devices, respective timestamps upon entering an XR session (the client initializes pose tracking of the client HMD…, after the tracking services and/or modules are activated, the client begins receiving HMD pose data, para. 0105);
selecting a first user device of the set of user devices having an oldest timestamp as a reference device (one of the VR HMDs is a master device 110, the master is the first VR HMD device to initialize a shared section, para. 0056);
capturing, by the first user device, as set of positions of body in a coordinate system of the first user device (the client also initializes human detection and skeletal tracking…, para. 0105);
generating a reference data set using the set of positions (different tracking coordinates are aligned together using skeleton tracking data as reference points between different tracking results of different devices, para. 0075);
transmitting the reference data set to one or more second user devices of the set of user devices (each client joining into the on-going virtual experience session performs its own local tracking and these clients transmit the most up-to-date device pose data to the master, para. 0075); and
aligning the one or more second user devices to the coordinate system of the first user device using the reference data set (each HMD provides skeleton information to a master device, para. 0155).
Harviainen does not specifically disclose the body information is as set of positions of somatic points of a hand.
In a similar field of endeavor of the virtual reality system, Chen disclose body information is as set of positions of somatic points of a hand (the controller 200 may input the image captured by the image capture device 310 to obtain a plurality of tracking points of the object 21, including tracking points 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35, para. 0053).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the set of positions of somatic points of a hand as taught by Chen in the system of Harviainen in order to track the positions more precise since the data size (such as hand) of the vector is small (para. 0053 of Chen).
Regarding claims 2 and 9, the combination of Harviainen and Chen discloses the somatic points comprise joints of the hand (para. 0053 of Chen).
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 16, the combination of Harviainen and Chen discloses determining, by the first user device, a position of the user using a pose tracker component of the first user device (one of the VR HMDs is a master device 110, the master is the first VR HMD device to initialize a shared section, para. 0056, each HMD provides skeleton information to a master device, para. 0155).
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 17, the combination of Harviainen and Chen discloses the reference data set includes a 6 degrees of freedom measure of the position of the user (render a 360 view of the virtual world and distribute assets to connected clients, para. 0053 of Harviainen).
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 18, the combination of Harviainen and Chen discloses the first user device captures a palm view of the hand and the one or more second user devices capture a backhand view of the hand (by tracking 360 view of the object, para. 0053 of Harviainen, it would have been obvious to obtain a palm view and a backhand view of the hand).
Regarding claims 6, 13 and 19, the combination of Harviainen and Chen discloses capturing, by the first user device, trajectory data of the hand; and including the trajectory data in the reference data set (para. 0047 of Chen).
Regarding claims 7, 14 and 20, the combination of Harviainen and Chen discloses maintaining alignment of the set of user devices in the first coordinate system during the XR session (para. 0047 of Chen).
Regarding claim 8, Harviainen discloses a machine (300, fig. 3) comprising:
at least one processor (320, para. 0064); and
at least one memory (380, para. 0064) storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
capturing, by a set of user devices, respective timestamps upon entering an XR session (the client initializes pose tracking of the client HMD…, after the tracking services and/or modules are activated, the client begins receiving HMD pose data, para. 0105);
selecting a first user device of the set of user devices having an oldest timestamp as a reference device (one of the VR HMDs is a master device 110, the master is the first VR HMD device to initialize a shared section, para. 0056);
capturing, by the first user device, as set of positions of body in a coordinate system of the first user device (the client also initializes human detection and skeletal tracking…, para. 0105);
generating a reference data set using the set of positions (different tracking coordinates are aligned together using skeleton tracking data as reference points between different tracking results of different devices, para. 0075);
transmitting the reference data set to one or more second user devices of the set of user devices (each client joining into the on-going virtual experience session performs its own local tracking and these clients transmit the most up-to-date device pose data to the master, para. 0075); and
aligning the one or more second user devices to the coordinate system of the first user device using the reference data set (each HMD provides skeleton information to a master device, para. 0155).
Harviainen does not specifically disclose the body information is as set of positions of somatic points of a hand.
In a similar field of endeavor of the virtual reality system, Chen disclose body information is as set of positions of somatic points of a hand (the controller 200 may input the image captured by the image capture device 310 to obtain a plurality of tracking points of the object 21, including tracking points 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35, para. 0053).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the set of positions of somatic points of a hand as taught by Chen in the system of Harviainen in order to track the positions more precise since the data size (such as hand) of the vector is small (para. 0053 of Chen).
Regarding claim 15, Harviainen discloses a machine-readable medium including instructions that (para. 0191), when executed by a machine (300, fig. 3), cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
capturing, by a set of user devices, respective timestamps upon entering an XR session (the client initializes pose tracking of the client HMD…, after the tracking services and/or modules are activated, the client begins receiving HMD pose data, para. 0105);
selecting a first user device of the set of user devices having an oldest timestamp as a reference device (one of the VR HMDs is a master device 110, the master is the first VR HMD device to initialize a shared section, para. 0056);
capturing, by the first user device, as set of positions of body in a coordinate system of the first user device (the client also initializes human detection and skeletal tracking…, para. 0105);
generating a reference data set using the set of positions (different tracking coordinates are aligned together using skeleton tracking data as reference points between different tracking results of different devices, para. 0075);
transmitting the reference data set to one or more second user devices of the set of user devices (each client joining into the on-going virtual experience session performs its own local tracking and these clients transmit the most up-to-date device pose data to the master, para. 0075); and
aligning the one or more second user devices to the coordinate system of the first user device using the reference data set (each HMD provides skeleton information to a master device, para. 0155).
Harviainen does not specifically disclose the body information is as set of positions of somatic points of a hand.
In a similar field of endeavor of the virtual reality system, Chen disclose body information is as set of positions of somatic points of a hand (the controller 200 may input the image captured by the image capture device 310 to obtain a plurality of tracking points of the object 21, including tracking points 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35, para. 0053).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the set of positions of somatic points of a hand as taught by Chen in the system of Harviainen in order to track the positions more precise since the data size (such as hand) of the vector is small (para. 0053 of Chen).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Gibson et al. (US 10,838,488) disclose composite spatial data may be created
and used to maintaining spatial alignment of users 304 and 306 in a physical
environment 308, the techniques may assist in establishing shared presence within the
common virtual environment 302 (fig. 3 and supportive specification).
Gladkov et al. (US 11,132,827) disclose an artificial reality system 10 generates
a common scene of an artificial reality environment that is collaboratively constructed
and simultaneously controlled by multiple artificial reality applications concurrently
executing within the artificial reality system (fig. 1B. and supportive specification).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7696. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin C Lee can be reached at 5712722963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JENNIFER T NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2629