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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on March 19, 2025 and March 10, 2026 were filed on/after the filing date of the application on March 10, 2025. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on March 11, 2025. These drawings are accepted.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-4, 6-10, 12-14, and 16-19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 2 and 12 similarly recite, “…wherein the rendering a shadow of the pixel based on the shadow attenuation factor of the pixel comprises…” but should recite, “…wherein the rendering the shadow of the pixel based on the shadow attenuation factor of the pixel comprises…”
Claims 3 and 13 similarly recite, “…wherein the performing linear transformation on the shadow space distance of the pixel under the light source based on a linear transformation rendering parameter of the light source, to obtain a shadow attenuation factor of the pixel comprises…” but should recite, “…wherein the performing linear transformation on the shadow space distance of the pixel under the light source based on the linear transformation rendering parameter of the light source, to obtain the shadow attenuation factor of the pixel comprises…”
Claims 4 and 14 similarly recite, “…wherein the determining a depth correlation value of the pixel based on the shadow space distance of the pixel under the light source comprises…” but should recite, “…wherein the determining the depth correlation value of the pixel based on the shadow space distance of the pixel under the light source comprises…”
Claims 6 and 16 similarly recite, “…wherein the performing linear transformation on the depth correlation value of the pixel based on a linear transformation rendering parameter of the light source, to obtain the shadow attenuation factor of the pixel comprises…” but should recite, “…wherein the performing linear transformation on the depth correlation value of the pixel based on the linear transformation rendering parameter of the light source, to obtain the shadow attenuation factor of the pixel comprises…”
Claims 7 and 17 similarly recite, “…wherein the determining a shadow space distance of a pixel in a world space under a light source of a virtual scene relative to a shadow camera located at a position of the light source in a shadow camera space comprises…” but should recite, “…wherein the determining the shadow space distance of the pixel in the world space under the light source of the virtual scene relative to the shadow camera located at the position of the light source in the shadow camera space comprises…”
Claims 8 and 18 similarly recite, “…wherein the determining a first shadow intensity of the pixel under the light source comprises…” but should recite, “…wherein the determining the first shadow intensity of the pixel under the light source comprises…”
Claim 9 recites, “…wherein the determining the first shadow intensity of the pixel under the light source based on the pixel depth value and a minimum depth value at the screen space position comprises…” but should recite, “…wherein the determining the first shadow intensity of the pixel under the light source based on the pixel depth value and the minimum depth value at the screen space position comprises…”
Claims 10 and 19 similarly recite, “…wherein the rendering a shadow of the pixel based on the second shadow intensity comprises…” but should recite, “…wherein the rendering the shadow of the pixel based on the second shadow intensity comprises…”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 11-13, 15, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Myers et al. (US 2023/0149811).
As to claim 1, Myers et al. disclose a shadow rendering method performed by a computer device (Figure 1, [0052], multi-player online gaming platform/environment 100 comprising at least one server or host computer 105 in communication with one or more computing devices 110, where [0053], [0054] notes the at least one server or host computer 105 can be any computing device having one or more processors and one or more computer-readable storage media, and include a plurality of modules, e.g. a master game module 130 and rendering module 136 configured to execute an auto-resolution module 132 and filtering module 134 among additional modules required to implement a graphics rendering pipeline on each of the one or more computing devices 110, to provide or implement a plurality of functional, operational or service-oriented methods of the present specification), the method comprising (Figures 2-4 and associated text): determining a shadow space distance of a pixel in a world space under a light source of a virtual scene relative to a shadow camera located at a position of the light source in a shadow camera space (e.g. Figure 2 and associated text, e.g. steps 204-214, where step 212, [0073] notes the auto-resolution module computes a distance of each of the plurality of lights from a predefined camera viewpoint, e.g. the predefined camera viewpoint is the position in space from which the game scene is rendered-that is, an apparent position of the viewer, thus the distance is a Euclidean distance in space); performing linear transformation on the shadow space distance of the pixel under the light source based on a linear transformation rendering parameter of the light source (e.g. Figure 3 and associated text, e.g. [0082] notes one the resolution of a shadow map is dynamically established using method 200, shading can be performed in order to generate a shadow, [0083] further notes shadow mapping involves two stages: the first stage renders a scene from the point of view of the light with depth testing enabled and records depth information for each fragment, e.g. in a z-buffer, where the resulting depth image (the shadow map) contains depth information for the fragments that are visible from the light source, and therefore, are occluders for any other fragment behind them from the point of view of the light, and in the second stage, the scene is rendered normally from the point of view of the camera, where depth testing is then performed wherein for each fragment the distance to the light source is computed and compared against the depth information recorded in the z-buffer in the first stage to determine if the fragment is behind a light occluder or not, if it is, then the diffuse and specular components for the fragment are removed, resulting in a shadow-like visual), to obtain a shadow attenuation factor of the pixel (e.g. step 302, [0086], [0087] notes the filtering module implements a standard Percentage Closer Filtering (PCF) algorithm in order to obtain PCF results or values that determine an amount of occlusion or attenuation (or percentage of shadow) for each pixel of the shadow in the game scene, the PCF algorithm involves performing additional shadow depth tests to compare a depth value of the target pixel against depth values of neighboring pixels in a shadow map, the number of additional shadow tests to be performed for the neighboring pixels depends upon a size of a PCF kernel, where the outcomes from the shadow depth tests (that are binary in nature—that is, whether a pixel is lit or is in shadow) are averaged to compute a percentage of pixels (including the target pixel and the neighboring pixels) that are in shadow thereby determining the amount of occlusion or attenuation (or a percentage of shadow) to be applied to the target pixel, step 304, [0088] notes the filtering module computes attenuated DPCF results or values, using the PCF results or values obtained in step 302, while also maintaining an average distance, from the shaded pixel to the occluding geometry, of all occluding samples (that is, the projected, to light-space, geometry that is occluding the sample being shaded), thus, the filtering module transforms the PCF results or values in order to compute the attenuated DPCF results or values, a transformation of the average occluding distance is used to dilate the PCF result by linearly interpolating between the lighter PCF result and darker PCF result, this transformation of the average occluding distance involves moving the distance from a space of 0 to 1 to 1 to 1 and then taking the absolute value, where the DPCF results or values are indicative of an amount of occlusion or attenuation (or a percentage of shadow) to be applied to each pixel of the shadow (see Figure 4 and associated text)); and rendering a shadow of the pixel based on the shadow attenuation factor of the pixel, to obtain a shadow rendering result of the virtual scene at the observation view (e.g. as noted above, the DPCF results or values are indicative of an amount of occlusion or attenuation (or a percentage of shadow) to be applied to each pixel of the shadow, where step 306, [0090] notes based on the DPCF results or values relevant pixels are shaded in order to generate the shadow, e.g. a shader program may perform shading (lighting and/or material evaluation) of the pixels).
As noted above, Myers et al. describe two processes, e.g. Figures 2 and 3, where the result of the process of Figure 2 determines whether the proceed to the process of Figure 3. Specifically, as noted above, step 212 is included in the process of Figure 2, and if the process determines further processing, the process proceeds to Figure 3. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to recognize that the process of Figure 3 is based on the process (e.g. the steps thereof) of Figure 2, yielding predictable results, without changing the scope of the invention.
As to claim 2, Myers et al. disclose the rendering a shadow of the pixel based on the shadow attenuation factor of the pixel comprises: determining a first shadow intensity of the pixel under the light source; attenuating the first shadow intensity of the pixel by using the shadow attenuation factor, to obtain a second shadow intensity of the pixel under the light source; and rendering the shadow of the pixel based on the second shadow intensity of the pixel ([0093] notes when there is a transition from a dynamic shadow to a static shadow, a temporary light may be created for the dynamic shadow, where the temporary light is then crossfaded with the static light, thus the temporary (dynamic) light starts at an intensity of 1.0 and reduces to an intensity of zero, at which time it is removed, and the static light starts at zero intensity and increases to 1.0 (and continues to exist), such that this creates a visually smooth transition when changing the type of shadow (as it also works in the other direction), where changing the shadow may encompass performing the process of Figure 3, including computing attenuated DPCF results or values and applying these values to each pixel of the shadow).
As to claim 3, Myers et al. disclose the performing linear transformation on the shadow space distance of the pixel under the light source based on a linear transformation rendering parameter of the light source, to obtain a shadow attenuation factor of the pixel comprises: determining a depth correlation value of the pixel based on the shadow space distance of the pixel under the light source; and performing linear transformation on the depth correlation value of the pixel based on the linear transformation rendering parameter of the light source, to obtain the shadow
attenuation factor of the pixel (e.g. as noted in claim 1, the PCF algorithm involves performing additional shadow depth tests to compare a depth value of the target pixel against depth values of neighboring pixels in a shadow map, the number of additional shadow tests to be performed for the neighboring pixels depends upon a size of a PCF kernel, where the outcomes from the shadow depth tests (that are binary in nature—that is, whether a pixel is lit or is in shadow) are averaged to compute a percentage of pixels (including the target pixel and the neighboring pixels) that are in shadow thereby determining the amount of occlusion or attenuation (or a percentage of shadow) to be applied to the target pixel, where the filtering module computes the attenuated DPCF results or values, using these PCF results or values, e.g. transforming the PCF results or values in order to compute the attenuated DPCF results or values).
As to claim 5, Myers et al. disclose the shadow camera is a perspective projection camera, the pixel depth value is a ratio of the depth correlation value of the pixel to a shadow space position (e.g. as noted in claim 1, [0073] notes the auto-resolution module computes a distance of each of the plurality of lights from a predefined camera viewpoint, e.g. the predefined camera viewpoint is the position in space from which the game scene is rendered-that is, an apparent position of the viewer, thus the distance is a Euclidean distance in space, where [0083] notes shadow mapping involves two stages, where the second stage the scene is rendered normally from the point of view of the camera, depth testing is then performed wherein for each fragment the distance to the light source is computed and compared against the depth information recorded in the z-buffer in the first stage to determine if the fragment is behind a light occluder or not, if it is, then the diffuse and specular components for the fragment are removed, resulting in a shadow-like visual).
As to claim 11, Myers et al. disclose a computer device (Figure 1, [0052], multi-player online gaming platform/environment 100 comprising at least one server or host computer 105 in communication with one or more computing devices 110), comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having a computer program stored therein, and the processor executing the computer program to perform a shadow rendering method ([0053], [0054] notes the at least one server or host computer 105 can be any computing device having one or more processors and one or more computer-readable storage media, and include a plurality of modules, e.g. a master game module 130 and rendering module 136 configured to execute an auto-resolution module 132 and filtering module 134 among additional modules required to implement a graphics rendering pipeline on each of the one or more computing devices 110, to provide or implement a plurality of functional, operational or service-oriented methods of the present specification, e.g. Figures 2-4) including the method as performed in claim 1. Please see the rejection and rationale of claim 1.
Claims 12, 13, and 15 are similar in scope to claims 2, 3, and 5, respectively, and are therefore rejected under similar rationale.
As to claim 20, Myers et al. disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having a computer program stored therein, the computer program being executed by a processor of a computer device to perform a shadow rendering method (Figure 1, [0052], multi-player online gaming platform/environment 100 comprising at least one server or host computer 105 in communication with one or more computing devices 110, where [0053], [0054] notes the at least one server or host computer 105 can be any computing device having one or more processors and one or more computer-readable storage media, and include a plurality of modules, e.g. a master game module 130 and rendering module 136 configured to execute an auto-resolution module 132 and filtering module 134 among additional modules required to implement a graphics rendering pipeline on each of the one or more computing devices 110, to provide or implement a plurality of functional, operational or service-oriented methods of the present specification, e.g. Figures 2-4) including the method as performed in claim 1. Please see the rejection and rationale of claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6-10, 14, and 16-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding dependent claims 4, 6-8, 10, 14, 16-19, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest the limitations of the claims as recited. Dependent claim 9 is indicated allowable for depending upon indicated allowable claim 8.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
DeCell et al. (US 2016/0260245) disclose a system and method of providing soft shadowing effects into rendered images, where rays are casts from positions on visible surfaces corresponding to pixel positions towards the center of a light, and occlusions of the rays are determined and applied to soft shadows to rendered pixel values.
WATANABE (US 2015/0009216) disclose a system and method of updating a determinant for producing a shadow map in parallel with production and display processing of image data, where in the updating process of the determinant, even in a case where an imaging range of a virtual camera is changed or a direction of a light from a light source is changed, if and when a changing amount of the imaging range of the virtual camera from a time that the determinant is previously calculated (updated) is less than a predetermined amount and a changing amount of the direction of the light from the light source from that time is also less than a predetermined amount, the determinant is not updated.
Miller (US 2009/0033661) disclose a system and method of rendering soft shadow effects according to a spatially-varying convolution kernel of an occluder’s transparency information.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACINTA M CRAWFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-1539. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, King Y. Poon can be reached at (571)272-7440. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JACINTA M CRAWFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2617
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