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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: [0103] discloses “The second camera 420 may be referred to the gaze tracking camera 260-1 of FIG. 2A.” However, Fig 2A does not show 260-1 . Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Note that alternatively, applicant may obviate this objection to the drawings by amending the Specification in [0103] by changing “Fig. 2A” to “Fig. 2B” since Fig. 2B does show 260-1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 6-7 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites “based on identifying a difference of the position of the external object and the direction of the eyes equal to or more than a specified threshold”.
The position of the external object can be x and y coordinates on the display.
The direction of the eyes can be up, down, right and left of eye.
Claim is unclear how to compare differences between “x and y coordinates on the display” and “up, down, right and left of eye”.
Further, claim is unclear what is considered as “equal to or more than a specified threshold”.
Therefore, claim boundary is indefinite.
Claim 16 has same issue as claim 6.
Claims 7, 17 have same issue because of claim dependency.
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.
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 1 – 9, 11 - 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al. (U.S. Patent Publication 20220058876 A1) in view of Held et al. (U.S. Patent Publication 20170099481 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ln discloses “A wearable device comprising:
a first camera; (Fig. 2, 240)
a second camera; (Fig. 2, 220)
a display; (Fig. 2, 230)
at least one processor (Fig. 2, 210) comprising processing circuitry; and
memory (Fig. 2, 250) comprising one or more storage mediums storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable device to:
display, using the display, a visual object within a field of view (FoV) of a user, in a state where the wearable device is worn by the user, ([0021] FIG. 2 is a simplified functional block diagram of the HMD 120 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The HMD 120 comprises a control circuit 210, an optical camera 220, a display device 230, a depth camera 240, and a storage circuit 250, in which the control circuit 210 is coupled with these functional blocks. For the sake of brevity, other functional blocks of the HMD 120 are not shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the optical camera 220 is a see-through camera that can capture a part of the physical environment 100 corresponding to the perspective 170 of the optical camera 220 (or the HMD), allowing the HMD 120 to render a visual environment (e.g., the AR or MR environment) including both virtual objects and real-world objects through the display device 230. The storage circuit 250 is configured to store image information 252 and depth information 254 obtained from the optical camera 220 and the depth camera 240, respectively. The image information 252 and the depth information 254 may be used to generate a virtual object, which will be further described in the following paragraphs.)
while displaying the visual object, based on the first camera disposed toward the FoV, identify an external object, interacting with the visual object, seen through the FoV, (Figs. 4A, 4B, [0026] n operation S306, the control circuit 210 tracks the movement of a feature point 430 located within the physical environment 100 through the optical camera 220. In this embodiment, the feature point 430 is a finger of the user 110, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the feature point may be an end of the handheld controller (not shown) communicatively coupled with the HMD 120. The control circuit 210 may capture a moving track 440 of the feature point 430 which can be used in operation S308 to identify a selected plane 450 at least partially overlapping with the real-world content 410. [0027] In operation S308, specifically, the moving track 440 is projected onto the real-world content 410 according to a straight direction Dn from a focal point 222 of the optical camera 220 to the feature point 430, so as to define an edge of the selected plane 450. In this embodiment, the moving track 440 forms an enclosed area 460, and thus the selected plane 450 can also be deemed as being defined by projecting the enclosed area 460 onto the real-world content 410 according to the straight direction Dn.)
obtain a position of the external object, based on identifying an interaction between the external object and the visual object using the first camera, ([0026] [0027] [0035] [0036]) and
Lin does not disclose “change information indicating a direction of eyes identified by frames outputted from the second camera disposed toward the eyes of the user, using at least one of a position of the visual object or the position of the external object, based on obtaining the position of the external object”.
Held discloses “change information indicating a direction of eyes identified by frames outputted from the second camera disposed toward the eyes of the user, using at least one of a position of the visual object or the position of the external object, based on obtaining the position of the external object”. ([0015] As mentioned above, in some examples the head-mounted display device 104 may utilize a plurality of reference objects to determine a corresponding plurality of rays for each eye in a calibration process. The use of a plurality of rays may allow the position of the eye to be determined more accurately compared to the use of a single ray. FIG. 2 shows a schematic overhead view of a calibration process for a head-mounted display device 200 being worn by a user 202. Similar to the example of FIG. 1, the user 202 aligns, using the left eye, a user-controlled object (in this case the user's finger 210) with a first reference object 204. The user confirms the alignment at time T1, and the head-mounted display device 200 then determines a first ray R1 that intersects the first reference object 204 and the finger 210. Next, the user 202 moves the finger 210 to a second position to align the finger, again using the left eye, with a second reference object 206. The user confirms the alignment at time T2, and the head-mounted display device 200 determines a second ray R2 intersecting the second reference object 206 and the finger 212 at the second position. Similarly, the user next aligns finger 210 with a third reference object 208 from a perspective of the left eye, and confirms alignment at time T3. The head-mounted display device 200 then determines a third ray R3 intersecting the third reference object 208 and the finger 214.” [0010] The user 102 is holding up a finger 108 such that the finger 108 appears to align with the hologram 106 from a perspective of a selected eye of the user 102. The other eye of the user is isolated, either by the user closing the other eye, or by the head-mounted display device 104 being controlled to occlude the view of the other eye. To determine alignment, the head-mounted display device 104 may detect, for example, whether the finger 108 is within a predetermined range of threshold distances from the hologram 106, and whether the finger 108 is being held in a sufficiently immobile manner. If both conditions are met, the head-mounted display device 104 may take measurement(s) to determine the position of the finger 108. As another example, the user 102 may indicate to the head-mounted display device 104 via a user input that the finger 108 is aligned with the hologram 106. Upon receiving confirmation of alignment, the head-mounted display device 104 may determine a ray intersecting hologram 106 and finger 108, and determine the estimated eye position via the ray, e.g. by a location at which the ray intersects an estimated plane passing through the eye. [0012] [0018] [0040])
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate eye position by Held into device of Lin. The suggestion/motivation would have been to accurately detect eye position. (Held: [0015])
Regarding claims 2, 12, Lin and Held disclose wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable device to: change, within the FoV, a position matching the direction of the eyes obtained by using the information. (Held [0012] [0018] [0040])
Regarding claims 3, 13, Lin and Held disclose wherein the external object includes at least one hand of the user, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable device to: track the at least one hand, using the first camera; and change the information based identifying the interaction between the visual object and the at least one hand. (Held [0012] [0015] [0018] [0040])
Regarding claims 4, 14, Lin and Held disclose wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable device to: identify the interaction based on identifying at least one of a first gesture indicating the at least one hand pointing the visual object or a second gesture indicating the at least one hand gripping the visual object. (Held [0013] [0027])
Regarding claims 5, 15, Lin and Held disclose wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable device to: while changing the information, display, within the FoV, a second visual object indicating changing the information different from a first visual object that is the visual object. (Held [0012] [0015] [0018] [0040])
Regarding claims 6, 16, Lin and Held disclose wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable device to: based on identifying a difference of the position of the external object and the direction of the eyes equal to or more than a specified threshold, display a third visual object, to guide to changing positional relations between the wearable device and the eyes. (Held [0012] [0015] [0018] [0040])
Regarding claims 7, 17, Lin and Held disclose wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable device to: based on identifying the difference of the position of the external object and the direction of the eyes less than the specified threshold, change the information. (Held [0012] [0015] [0018] [0040])
Regarding claims 8, 18, Lin and Held disclose wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable device to:identify a second user different from a first user who is the user, in a space where the wearable device is included; and change the information, based on identifying a second interaction of the visual object and the second user different from a first interaction which is the interaction. (Held [0012] [0015] - [0018] [0040])
Regarding claims 9, 19, Lin and Held disclose wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the wearable device to :identify the second interaction based on identifying the visual object matching a direction of eyes of the second user. (Held [0012] - [0015] [0040])
Regarding claim 11, claim 11 is rejected for same reason as claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 20 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20220155859 A1 discloses virtual target object on [0037]
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUN-NAN LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-5646. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 6pm.
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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 571-2722963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHUN-NAN LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2629