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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-10, 12-13, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mital et al. (US 20100324867 A1, hereinafter Mital), in view of Trehan (US 20160085762 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Mital teaches a method for creating content, the method comprising: (Mital, Paragraph [0014], “FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method for generating a view composition using the pipeline environment of FIG. 2”; [0004], "Embodiments described herein relate to the rendering of sequential data-driven scenes. Each data-driven scene is constructed using a plurality of view components, each receiving data into its input parameters, and using construction logic to formulate a rendering of corresponding visual item(s).")
inputting one or more streams of data (Mital, Paragraph [0054], "The pipeline environment 200 also includes an authoring component 240 that allows an author or other user of the pipeline 201 to formulate and/or select data to provide to the pipeline 201. For instance, the authoring component 240 may be used to supply data to each of data portion 210 (represented by input data 211), analytics portion 220 (represented by analytics data 221), and view portion 230 (represented by view data 231)."; it is noted data (input data, analytics data, view data) is supplied/streamed into the pipeline); [[ wherein said one or more streams of data comprises music data, synchronization data, object data, and scene data ]] defining one or more objects of said one or more streams of data (Mital, Paragraph [0117], "the input data might include view components for each of the items <read on objects> of furniture. For instance, each of the couch, the chair, the plants, the table, the flowers, and even the room itself may be represented by a corresponding view component.") wherein a plurality of properties of said one or more objects of said one or more streams of data are defined in a functional nature (Mital, Paragraph [0004], "each receiving data into its input parameters, and using construction logic to formulate a rendering of corresponding visual item(s)"; and Mital, Paragraph [0091], "the modeling component 420 defines analytical relationships 421 between the model parameters 411. The analytical relationships 421 are categorized into three general categories including equations 431, rules 432 and constraints 433"; it is noted the properties driven by input parameters and construction logic/equations/rules define behavior functionally). creating at least one scene (Mital, Paragraph [0138], "Each view composition might be a scene in a storyboard of complex scenes.") wherein said scene is defined by a set of objects (Mital, Paragraph [0102], "The view portion also includes a view components repository 520 that contains a collection of view components <read on a set of objects>."; and Mital, Paragraph [0103], "Each view component 521 through 524 includes or is associated with corresponding logic that, when executed by the view composition component 540 using the corresponding view component input parameter(s), if any, causes a corresponding view item to be placed in virtual space 550.") wherein said scene has a set of properties defined by an expression (Mital, Paragraph [0095], "The modeling component 420 may provide a mechanism for the author to provide a natural symbolic expression for equations, rules and constraints."; and Mital, Paragraph [0167], "the solved model variable may be provided as part of the model parameters 411 shown in FIG. 5, which may be bound to an input parameter 542 of a first view component 520.") transitioning said one or more sets of objects (Mital, Paragraph [0004], "When a transition event is detected, the data-driven scene changes from one scene to the next."), wherein said set of objects is transitioned from said scene to a second scene (Mital, Paragraph [0138], "The storyboard may transition from one scene to another by altering the view composition in one of a variety of possible ways."; and Mital, Paragraph [0139], "the set of view components used to construct the view composition may change. In other words, the view on the data changes. … One scene might manifest that data in the context of an aircraft flying through that environment. The next scene in the storyboard might tell of another aircraft that is subjected to the entirely same environmental conditions.") and interpolating said set of objects (Mital, Paragraph [0107], "A bar chart could be drawn for each calendar quarter in a desired time span. Now, imagine that you draw one of these charts, say the one for the earliest time in the time span, and then every half second replace it with the chart for the next time span (e.g., the next quarter). The result will be to see the bars representing profit, sales, and advertising expense for each region change in height as the animation proceeds."; it is noted the object properties (bar heights) are incrementally / interpolating changed between successive scene states) [[ wherein said set of objects of said scene and of said second scene are compatible but have different expressions ]] wherein said one or more objects are transitioned over a duration of time (Mital, Paragraph [0107], "A bar chart could be drawn for each calendar quarter in a desired time span … every half second replace it with the chart for the next time span"; it is noted the object transition is spread across a defined time duration).
But Mital does not explicitly disclose wherein said one or more streams of data comprises music data, synchronization data, object data, and scene data… wherein said set of objects of said scene and of said second scene are compatible but have different expressions.
However, Trehan teaches inputting one or more streams of data; wherein said one or more streams of data comprises music data, synchronization data, object data, and scene data (Trehan, Paragraph [0009], "Media content <read on object data> includes but is not limited to the video, audio <read on music data>, graphic, text, pdf, MS office document etc or combination thereof as components prepared on the media-board presentation."; Trehan, Paragraph [0025], "Each media board presentation is rendered in its own stream."; Trehan, Paragraph [0034], "The rendered synchronized media content including transition of assets is presented on output display device"; and Trehan, Paragraph [0038], "the media-board presentation 403 includes scene information and annotation information of the media contents") wherein said set of objects of said scene and of said second scene are compatible but have different expressions (Trehan, Paragraph [0008], "an asset may appear on multiple scenes, the unique identifier will remain the same on each scene, however, its meta-data may be different"; and Trehan, Paragraph [0032], "The algorithm allows common assets between current and new scene are not to be redrawn, their attributes (meta-data relating to the position, size, depth (or layer depth), alpha, volume, aspect and effect) are modified according to their properties on the new scene."; it is noted that the same (compatible) asset that appears in both scenes retains its unique identifier <read on compatible> but has different meta-data/attributes <read on different expressions>). interpolating said set of objects … over a duration of time (Trehan, Paragraph [0030], "Scene name="Scene Two" duration="5" auto_play="true" build_effect="flyinleft""; and Trehan, Paragraph [0032], "common assets between current and new scene are not to be redrawn, their attributes … are modified according to their properties on the new scene").
Trehan and Mital are analogous since both are directed to authoring and rendering multi-scene visual/audio-visual content and to smoothly transitioning objects/assets between successive scenes driven by data-defined properties. Mital provides a data-driven pipeline where scenes are constructed from parameterized view components whose properties are set by expressions/solved model variables, and where the storyboard transitions from one scene to another. Trehan provides a rich-media, multi-scene presentation framework in which media assets (including audio, video, graphic, text) are tagged, streamed, and re-parameterized between scenes so that a common asset in two scenes carries the same identity but different meta-data, enabling a smooth transition of that asset over a defined scene duration. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the audio/media stream input, the synchronized rendering, and the common-asset-with-different-meta-data scene-transition mechanism taught by Trehan into the data-driven scene pipeline of Mital such that the resulting method inputs streams comprising music, synchronization, object, and scene data, and interpolates a compatible object shared between an origin and a target scene using different expressions over a duration of time. The motivation is to enable "smooth transition of media content from one scene to another without any glitches or interruptions" and to avoid redrawing common assets (thereby saving processing and providing a seamless viewer experience), as discussed by Trehan in Paragraphs [0002]–[0007] and [0032].
Regarding Claim 2, Mital teaches a method for creating modular performance content, the method comprising: (Mital, Paragraph [0014], “FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method for generating a view composition using the pipeline environment of FIG. 2”; [0004], "Embodiments described herein relate to the rendering of sequential data-driven scenes. Each data-driven scene is constructed using a plurality of view components, each receiving data into its input parameters, and using construction logic to formulate a rendering of corresponding visual item(s)) providing a 3D graphics engine (Mital, Paragraph [0103], "when a view item is rendered in virtual space, that means that the view composition component has authored sufficient instructions that, when provided to the rendering engine, the rendering engine is capable of displaying the view item on the display"; and Mital, Paragraph [0115], "which illustrated 3-D renderings 700 of a view composition"; it is noted the view composition component together with the rendering engine that produces 3-D renderings reads on a 3D graphics engine) generating one or more digital objects by said 3D graphics engine based on one or more object properties (Mital, Paragraph [0103], "Each view component 521 through 524 includes or is associated with corresponding logic that, when executed by the view composition component 540 using the corresponding view component input parameter(s) <read on object properties>, if any, causes a corresponding view item <read on digital objects> to be placed in virtual space 550.") displaying said one or more digital objects in one or more sequential scenes (Mital, Paragraph [0004], "the data-driven scene changes from one scene to the next … Thus, data-driven scenes may be presented sequentially."; and Mital, Paragraph [0138], "Each view composition might be a scene in a storyboard of complex scenes. The storyboard may transition from one scene to another <read on sequential scenes >") and [[ applying a condition ]] to said one or more digital objects between sequential scenes (Mital, Paragraph [0139], "the set of view components used to construct the view composition may change" — the set of objects present changes between scenes; and Mital, Paragraph [0204], "A "zoom-in" interactivity might cause more specific granularities of visual items to appear, with perhaps some of the previous visual items disappearing from view. A "zoom-out" interactivity might cause courser granularities of visual items to appear, with perhaps some of the prior more specific granularities of items to disappear."; a condition of appearing/disappearing is applied to view items between successive scene states).
But Mital does not squarely characterize this appearing/disappearing between successive scenes as a "condition" structurally applied to each asset that spans or does not span two scenes.
However, Trehan teaches applying a condition to said one or more digital objects between sequential scenes (Trehan, Paragraph [0032], "The algorithm shall not redraw asset(s) for scenes that existed in the previous scene and is/are present in the new scene. The algorithm allows common assets between current and new scene are not to be redrawn, their attributes … are modified according to their properties on the new scene."; and Trehan, Paragraph [0037], "manage assets that do not appear on the new scene (if there is no potential for continual playing later may be removed from memory or those that could have potential to be continued are suspended); manage assets that only appear on the new scene and transition of assets that are common to both the current and new scenes.") — the three explicit conditions (common/continuing, appears-only-on-new, appears-only-on-previous) are applied to each asset between the previous and new sequential scenes.
Trehan and Mital are analogous since both concern rendering successive scenes of visual (and/or audio-visual) content and managing objects/assets that persist, appear, or disappear across the scene boundary. Mital provides the 3D graphics engine, the parameterized view components, and the sequential/storyboard scene rendering.Trehan provides the explicit three-way "condition" per asset ( common / appearing / disappearing ) that governs asset handling between sequential scenes. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the per-asset condition-check mechanism (common vs. appearing vs. disappearing between previous and new scene) taught by Trehan into the 3D graphics engine-driven sequential-scene rendering of Mital such that a condition is applied to each digital object between sequential scenes. The motivation is to achieve smooth, glitch-free transitions of assets between sequential scenes and to reduce redundant redraw operations, as discussed by Trehan in Paragraphs [0005]–[0007] and [0032].
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 2.
The combination further teaches wherein said one or more sequential scenes comprise a prior scene and a subsequent scene defined by a scene transition from said prior scene to said subsequent scene."),
Mital teaches wherein said one or more sequential scenes comprise a prior scene and a subsequent scene defined by a scene transition from said prior scene to said subsequent scene (Mital, Paragraph [0138], "Each view composition might be a scene in a storyboard of complex scenes. The storyboard may transition from one scene to another by altering the view composition in one of a variety of possible ways."; and Mital, Paragraph [0004], "When a transition event is detected, the data-driven scene changes from one scene to the next."; it is noted the storyboard has a current/prior scene and a next/subsequent scene, with a scene transition defined between them).
Trehan additionally teaches the same (Trehan, Paragraph [0032], "The multi-scene rich media content rendering algorithm defines how to perform rendering by pre-checking asset(s) of scene(s) on a media-board presentation to find the same or common asset(s) that may be present on the next scene"; and Trehan, Paragraph [0033], "facilitating smooth transition of media content from previous scene to new scene"); the "previous scene" <read on prior scene> and "new scene" <read on subsequent scene> with a defined transition between them.
As explained in rejection of claim 2, the obviousness for combining of sequence of scenes transition of Trehan into Mitalis provided above.
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 2.
The combination further teaches wherein said condition comprises one or more of a continuing status, an appearing status, and a disappearing status (Trehan, Paragraph [0037], "manage assets that do not appear on the new scene (if there is no potential for continual playing later may be removed from memory or those that could have potential to be continued are suspended <read on disappearing status>); manage assets that only appear on the new scene <read on appearing status > and transition of assets that are common to both the current and new scenes <read on continuing status >").
As explained in rejection of claim 2, the obviousness for combining of three-way condition per asset of Trehan into Mital is provided above.
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 4.
The combination further teaches wherein said continuing status applies to said one or more digital objects when said one or more digital objects exist in both said prior scene and said subsequent scene (Trehan, Paragraph [0032], "The common assets are identifiable by their unique identifier. The algorithm shall not redraw asset(s) for scenes that existed in the previous scene and is/are present in the new scene."; and Trehan, Paragraph [0037], "transition of assets that are common to both the current and new scenes."; it is noted the common assets that exist in both previous and new scenes are treated with a common (continuing) handling).
As explained in rejection of claim 2, the obviousness for combining of sequence of scenes transition of Trehan into Mitalis provided above.
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 5.
The combination further teaches wherein said continuing status results in said one or more digital objects continuing to be displayed through said scene transition (Trehan, Paragraph [0032], "The algorithm shall not redraw asset(s) for scenes that existed in the previous scene and is/are present in the new scene. The algorithm allows common assets between current and new scene are not to be redrawn, their attributes … are modified according to their properties on the new scene."; the common assets are not redrawn/removed but continue to be displayed with their attributes modified across the transition <read on continuing to be displayed through the scene transition>).
As explained in rejection of claim 2, the obviousness for combining of sequence of scenes transition of Trehan into Mitalis provided above.
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 4.
The combination further teaches wherein said appearing status applies to said one or more digital objects when said one or more digital objects do not exist in said prior scene but do exist in said subsequent scene (Trehan, Paragraph [0037], "manage assets that only appear on the new scene"; and Trehan, Paragraph [0033], "If there is no previous scene then the algorithm draws all the asset(s) on the new scene").
As explained in rejection of claim 2, the obviousness for combining of sequence of scenes transition of Trehan into Mitalis provided above.
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 7.
The combination further teaches wherein said appearing status results in said one or more digital objects appearing during said scene transition (Trehan, Paragraph [0033], "in case, there is/are no common asset(s) then the algorithm draws all the asset(s) 107 on current scene"; and Trehan, Paragraph [0040], "providing effects such as tween, fade in, fade out, <read on appearing during the scene transition> flyin left, flyin right etc.").
As explained in rejection of claim 2, the obviousness for combining of sequence of scenes transition of Trehan into Mital is provided above.
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 4.
The combination further teaches wherein said disappearing status applies to said one or more digital objects when said one or more digital objects exist in said prior scene but do not exist in said subsequent scene (Trehan, Paragraph [0028], "Assets that do not appear on the new scene and have no potential for resuming playing later may be removed from memory and those that could have potential to be resumed are simply suspended/paused."; and Trehan, Paragraph [0037], "manage assets that do not appear on the new scene"; it is noted assets present in the previous scene that do not appear in the new scene are separately managed (removed/suspended).
As explained in rejection of claim 2, the obviousness for combining of sequence of scenes transition of Trehan into Mitalis provided above.
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 9.
The combination further teaches wherein said disappearing status results in said one or more digital objects disappearing during said scene transition (Trehan, Paragraph [0028], "Assets that do not appear on the new scene and have no potential for resuming playing later may be removed from memory"; and Trehan, Paragraph [0040], "providing effects such as tween, fade in, fade out"; it is noted such assets are removed (fade out) during the scene transition <read on disappearing during the scene transition>).
As explained in rejection of claim 2, the obviousness for combining of sequence of scenes transition of Trehan into Mitalis provided above.
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 3.
The combination further teaches wherein said one or more object properties are defined by an expression (Mital, Paragraph [0095], "The modeling component 420 may provide a mechanism for the author to provide a natural symbolic expression for equations, rules and constraints."; and Mital, Paragraph [0167], "After the solver solves for the model variable, a property of a view component of the view composition is then set to the value of the solved model variable").
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 3.
The combination further teaches wherein said one or more object properties are functional (Mital, Paragraph [0004], "each receiving data into its input parameters, and using construction logic to formulate a rendering of corresponding visual item(s)"; and Mital, Paragraph [0091], "the modeling component 420 defines analytical relationships 421 between the model parameters 411. The analytical relationships 421 are categorized into three general categories including equations 431, rules 432 and constraints 433 <read on functional >").
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 3.
The combination further teaches wherein said scene transition is performed by a transition controller (Mital, Paragraph [0102], "The view portion 500 receives the model parameters 411 from the analytics portion 400 of FIG. 4. The view portion also includes a view components repository 520 that contains a collection of view components."; and Mital, Paragraph [0103], "corresponding logic that, when executed by the view composition component 540 <read on transition controller> using the corresponding view component input parameter(s), if any, causes a corresponding view item to be placed in virtual space 550").
Trehan additionally teaches the same (Trehan, Paragraph [0007], "multi-scene rich media content rendering algorithm, for modifying and managing attributes or properties with respect to media content asset(s); and media-board player <read on transition controller>, an implementation of the multi-scene rich media content rendering algorithm"; and Trehan, Paragraph [0032], "The multi-scene rich media content rendering algorithm defines how to perform rendering by pre-checking asset(s) of scene(s) on a media-board presentation").
Trehan and Mital are analogous since both are dealing with orchestrating the rendering of successive scenes of graphical/media content and the controlled handoff of objects/assets across a scene boundary. Mital provided a way of transitioning from one scene to the next via a view-composition/rendering engine that alters the set of view components and their bound data between scenes. Trehan provided a way of executing the scene transition via an explicit "multi-scene rich media content rendering algorithm" as embodied in a media-board player, which pre-checks assets, identifies common assets, and modifies their attributes across scenes. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the rendering algorithm / media-board player taught by Trehan into the modified invention of Mital such that the scene transition is performed by a dedicated transition controller. The motivation is to facilitate smooth transition of media content from one scene to another without any glitches or interruptions discussed by Trehan in Paragraphs [0005]–[0007] and [0032].
Claim(s) 11 s/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mital et al. (US 20100324867 A1, hereinafter Mital), in view of Trehan (US 20160085762 A1) as applied to Claim 10 above and further in view of Haase (US 8504925 B1).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 3.
The combination does not explicitly disclose but Haase teaches wherein said disappearing status results in said one or more digital objects shrinking down to nothing during said scene transition (Haase, Column 4, Line 2-22, "which GUI elements exist in the first screen but not in the second", "GUI elements <read on digital object> that are in the first screen but not the second must transition out of the application view. This can be done in various ways, depending on the effect desired. For example, widgets can simply fade out, move off the screen in some direction, or scale in or out and disappear, or some combination of these effects."; it is noted that a widget/GUI element <read on digital object> that exists in the first (prior) screen but not the second (subsequent) screen is transitioned out by being scaled out until it disappears <read on shrinking down to nothing during the scene transition>; Haase, Column 2, Line 14-20, "timer logic is triggered to periodically call a transition engine. An effects engine is called in response to the triggering and a next state of the component is rendered into an animation layer. The next state of the component is then displayed."; it is noted that the scale-out-and-disappear behavior occurs across the animated scene transition, not as an instantaneous removal.
Haase and Mital/Trehan are analogous since all three are directed to animated transitioning of graphical objects/elements between successive screens or scenes of a graphical display. Mital+Trehan provided a way of classifying each object between a prior scene and a subsequent scene into continuing/appearing/disappearing categories and managing (including removing) the disappearing objects. Haase provided a way of visually effecting the disappearing transition by scaling the object out until it disappears during a timed animated transition. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the "scale in or out and disappear" transition effect taught by Haase into the modified invention of Mital+Trehan such that a digital object having the disappearing status is shrunk down to nothing during the scene transition. The motivation is to provide a smooth, effect-rich animated exit for a graphical object that is present in a prior scene but not in the subsequent scene (avoiding abrupt/hard removal), and to leverage a general framework in which the developer need not hand-code such effects.
Claim(s) 14 s/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mital et al. (US 20100324867 A1, hereinafter Mital), in view of Trehan (US 20160085762 A1) as applied to Claim 3 above and further in view of Young (US 20110214079 A1).
Regarding Claim 14 the combination of Mital and Trehan teaches the invention in Claim 3.
The combination does not explicitly disclose but Young teaches wherein said one or more object properties are derived from an authoritative single source (Young, Paragraph [0006], "visual elements can be associated with an underlying data model < read on authoritative single source > in a manner that allows the visual display layer to recognize and respond to changes in the underlying data model."; it is noted the underlying data model is the sole source from which the visual elements' properties are derived).
Young and Mital/Trehan are analogous since all three are directed to driving properties of visual objects/elements in a scene from a data source and animating those objects across scene/state changes. Mital+Trehan provided a way of deriving object properties from canonical/pipeline data and from asset meta-data stored in a media-board presentation and media content database, and of transitioning objects between scenes. Young provided a way of anchoring the visual elements' properties to a single underlying data model that spans the visual elements, so that changes in that single data model automatically flow via declaratively specified associations to the properties of the visual elements. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the single-underlying-data-model / declarative-association mechanism taught by Young into the modified invention of Mital+Trehan such that the one or more object properties are derived from an authoritative single source. The motivation is to allow the designer to declaratively specify transitory behavior of the visual display and let the visual layer automatically recognize and respond to changes in the single underlying data model — reducing custom programmatic code and enabling consistent, propagated updates of object properties across visual elements — as discussed by Young in Paragraph [0006].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20200013231 A1 3-D TRANSITIONS
US 10521949 B2 Framework for graphics animation and compositing operations
US 20190279412 A1 Method for Inter-Scene Transitions
US 8205154 B2 User definable transition tool
US 7511718 B2 Media integration layer
US 20060274070 A1 Techniques and workflows for computer graphics animation system
US 6445740 B1 Audiovisual data decoding method
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/YuJang Tswei/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2614
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