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 § 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.
Claim 6 is 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 the limitation "monitoring the posture of the wearer" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It should be noted that claim 6 depends on claim 4, however, “monitoring posture of the wearer” was first recited in claim 5, and therefore this limitation lacks proper antecedent basis.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4-7, 10-13 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chang et al. (US 2018/0125423, hereinafter Chang).
Regarding claim 7, Chang teaches a pair of smart glasses (head-wearable item 120, fig. 1; [0044]: The head-wearable item 120 can be any type of device that is usually worn on a human head. This includes but not limited to eyewear including various types of eyeglasses, goggles, sunglasses, or VR/AR headset), comprising:
one or more programs (computer-readable instructions, [0143]), wherein the one or more programs are stored in memory ([0143]: computer readable media such as RAMs, ROMs, flash memory, EEPROMs, optical devices (CD or DVD), hard drives, floppy drives, or any suitable device) and configured to be executed by one or more processors ([0143]: The instructions can be executed by computer-executable components … The computer-executable component can be a processor), the one or more programs including instructions for:
in accordance with a determination that a sensor (inertial measurement unit 112, fig. 1) of the pair of smart glasses (the activity monitoring system 110 integrated with a head-wearable item such as smart glasses includes an inertial sensor; [0034]: The activity monitoring system 110 can include an inertial measurement unit 112; [0036]: The inertial measurement unit 112 functions to measure multiple kinematic properties of an activity. In particular, the inertial measurement unit 112 generates kinematic data reflecting the movements of a user's head. An inertial measurement unit 112 can include at least one accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and/or other suitable inertial sensor. The inertial measurement unit preferably includes a set of sensors aligned for detection of kinematic properties along three perpendicular axes. In one preferred variation, the inertial measurement unit 112 is a 9-axis motion-tracking device that includes a 3-axis gyroscope, a 3-axis accelerometer, and a 3-axis magnetometer; [0043]: the activity monitoring system no may be integrated into the design of the head-wearable item 120. For example, glasses may have the activity monitoring system 110 integrated into frames of the glasses; [0078]: Block S110, which includes collecting kinematic data from an activity monitoring system coupled to a user head region, functions to sense, detect, or otherwise obtain sensor data relating to motion and/or orientation of some portion of a user's head. The activity monitoring system preferably includes an activity monitoring system integrated with a head-wearable item as described above. In one variation, the activity monitoring system is integrated into eyewear. Eyewear may include vision corrective eyewear, sunglasses, safety goggles, smart glasses, a VR/AR headset, a glasses frame, or other forms of eyewear) includes data that indicates a wearer has a first posture (runner running with the head looking down at the ground is classified as bad posture and corresponds to the first posture; [0027]: detecting posture and providing feedback; [0065]: A posture processing module can function to characterize posture and more specifically neck/head posture. A posture processing module can be used to determine if a user is slouching from the neck and alert the user to adjust in an appropriate manner. A posture processing module of one variation can provide a measure of current posture's offset from a target posture; [0086]: Generating a set of activity signals may include tracking head orientation, measuring posture, generating a set of locomotion biomechanical signals, classifying activity state, detecting item-specific activity, and/or other forms of detection; [0087]: Tracking head orientation functions to generate a measurement or set of measurements that characterize the orientation and/or position of the head. This can preferably be used to characterize at least one of side-to-side tilt (i.e., head roll), side-to-side rotation (i.e., head yaw), and/or up-down angle (i.e., head pitch) as shown in FIG. 3; [0090]: Measuring posture functions to generate a metric that reflects the nature of a user's posture; [0091]: measuring posture can be an offset measurement of the head orientation relative to a target posture orientation … the target orientation may change depending on the current activity. Accordingly, measuring posture can include detecting a current activity through the kinematic data (or other sources), selecting a current target posture orientation for the current activity and measuring orientation relative to the current target posture orientation; [0092]: A posture processing module can function to characterize posture and more specifically neck/head posture. A posture processing module can be used to determine if a user is slouching from the neck and alert the user to adjust in an appropriate manner. A posture processing module of one variation can provide a measure of current posture's offset from a target posture; [0094]: another posture model can track the amount of time the head is spent in various orientations such as looking forward, up, down, left, right and other various orientations. The feedback can be triggered based on the orientation such as the feedback may be generated after 30 seconds of looking in a downward direction, while looking to the left or right side may not generate a feedback signal, or may generate a feedback signal after a longer duration; [0121]: The running response conditions may promote a base posture of the head looking out in front of the runner instead of down at the ground. This could be used to trigger feedback when a runner has been running with his or her head down for a long duration; [0127]: monitoring the set of activity signals can include detecting head orientations satisfying an undesired head posture condition. The head posture condition can be orientation, sustained duration of orientation (e.g., holding a head position in an orientation range for some duration of time), intermittent duration orientation (e.g., how long head was in a position over the course of 10 minutes, hour, day, etc.), and the like; [0129]: Alerts, coaching, and/or directed exercises may be triggered in block S140 to counteract the posture biases. For example, a user that rarely looks to their sides may be coached to look left and right periodically. Similarly, a user that has their head tilted at an orientation weighted as an infrequent position, but has their head in that position for a large amount of time in a time window may be alerted to use caution in their posture), notifying the wearer (trigger feedback) at another device (a secondary computing device) that they have a first posture (a second form of feedback is provided to the user with bad posture using the secondary computing device such as a smart phone or smart watch; [0041]: The system can additionally include one or more feedback elements, which function to provide a medium for delivering real-time feedback to the user. A feedback element can include a haptic feedback element (e.g., a vibrational motor), audio speakers, a display, or other mechanisms for delivering feedback. Other user interface elements for input and/or output can additionally be incorporated into the device such as audio output elements, buttons, touch sensors, and the like. Feedback can be delivered through a system integrated with the head-wearable item 120 or a secondary computing device such as a smart phone, smart watch, a computer, and/or another suitable computing device; [0121]: This could be used to trigger feedback when a runner has been running with his or her head down for a long duration; [0134]: triggering the action response may include initializing a notification communicated to the secondary computing device; [0136]: triggering the action response can include triggering a feedback alert. The feedback alert can be haptic feedback, an audio alert, a visual alert, and/or any suitable type of alert. The type and variety of feedback alerts are preferably mapped to different forms of feedback. For example, there can be one form of feedback alert for good posture and a second form for bad posture; [0140]: triggering an action response may also be used in augmenting operation of a secondary computing device. A notification, message or instruction can be communicated to the second computing device that then preferably acts on that communication); and
in accordance with a determination that the sensor (inertial measurement unit 112, fig. 1) of the pair of smart glasses (the activity monitoring system 110 integrated with a head-wearable item such as smart glasses includes an inertial sensor; [0034]: The activity monitoring system 110 can include an inertial measurement unit 112; [0036]: The inertial measurement unit 112 functions to measure multiple kinematic properties of an activity. In particular, the inertial measurement unit 112 generates kinematic data reflecting the movements of a user's head. An inertial measurement unit 112 can include at least one accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and/or other suitable inertial sensor. The inertial measurement unit preferably includes a set of sensors aligned for detection of kinematic properties along three perpendicular axes. In one preferred variation, the inertial measurement unit 112 is a 9-axis motion-tracking device that includes a 3-axis gyroscope, a 3-axis accelerometer, and a 3-axis magnetometer; [0043]: the activity monitoring system no may be integrated into the design of the head-wearable item 120. For example, glasses may have the activity monitoring system 110 integrated into frames of the glasses; [0078]: Block S110, which includes collecting kinematic data from an activity monitoring system coupled to a user head region, functions to sense, detect, or otherwise obtain sensor data relating to motion and/or orientation of some portion of a user's head. The activity monitoring system preferably includes an activity monitoring system integrated with a head-wearable item as described above. In one variation, the activity monitoring system is integrated into eyewear. Eyewear may include vision corrective eyewear, sunglasses, safety goggles, smart glasses, a VR/AR headset, a glasses frame, or other forms of eyewear) includes additional data that indicates the wearer has a second posture distinct from the first posture (runner running with the head looking up at the horizon is classified as good posture and corresponds to the second posture; [0027]: detecting posture and providing feedback; [0065]: A posture processing module can function to characterize posture and more specifically neck/head posture. A posture processing module can be used to determine if a user is slouching from the neck and alert the user to adjust in an appropriate manner. A posture processing module of one variation can provide a measure of current posture's offset from a target posture; [0086]: Generating a set of activity signals may include tracking head orientation, measuring posture, generating a set of locomotion biomechanical signals, classifying activity state, detecting item-specific activity, and/or other forms of detection; [0087]: Tracking head orientation functions to generate a measurement or set of measurements that characterize the orientation and/or position of the head. This can preferably be used to characterize at least one of side-to-side tilt (i.e., head roll), side-to-side rotation (i.e., head yaw), and/or up-down angle (i.e., head pitch) as shown in FIG. 3; [0090]: Measuring posture functions to generate a metric that reflects the nature of a user's posture; [0091]: measuring posture can be an offset measurement of the head orientation relative to a target posture orientation … the target orientation may change depending on the current activity. Accordingly, measuring posture can include detecting a current activity through the kinematic data (or other sources), selecting a current target posture orientation for the current activity and measuring orientation relative to the current target posture orientation; [0092]: A posture processing module can function to characterize posture and more specifically neck/head posture. A posture processing module can be used to determine if a user is slouching from the neck and alert the user to adjust in an appropriate manner. A posture processing module of one variation can provide a measure of current posture's offset from a target posture; [0094]: another posture model can track the amount of time the head is spent in various orientations such as looking forward, up, down, left, right and other various orientations. The feedback can be triggered based on the orientation such as the feedback may be generated after 30 seconds of looking in a downward direction, while looking to the left or right side may not generate a feedback signal, or may generate a feedback signal after a longer duration; [0121]: running specific biomechanical signals such as cadence and vertical oscillation can be tracked and coached in combination with monitoring head orientation. For example, a runner could receive feedback to target a particular cadence and/or vertical oscillation metric but while maintaining head orientation in a posture where the runner is looking up at the horizon; [0127]: monitoring the set of activity signals can include detecting head orientations satisfying an undesired head posture condition. The head posture condition can be orientation, sustained duration of orientation (e.g., holding a head position in an orientation range for some duration of time), intermittent duration orientation (e.g., how long head was in a position over the course of 10 minutes, hour, day, etc.), and the like; [0129]: Alerts, coaching, and/or directed exercises may be triggered in block S140 to counteract the posture biases. For example, a user that rarely looks to their sides may be coached to look left and right periodically. Similarly, a user that has their head tilted at an orientation weighted as an infrequent position, but has their head in that position for a large amount of time in a time window may be alerted to use caution in their posture), notifying the wearer (trigger feedback) at another device (a secondary computing device) that they have a second posture (a first form of feedback is provided to the user with good posture using the secondary computing device such as a smart phone or smart watch; [0041]: The system can additionally include one or more feedback elements, which function to provide a medium for delivering real-time feedback to the user. A feedback element can include a haptic feedback element (e.g., a vibrational motor), audio speakers, a display, or other mechanisms for delivering feedback. Other user interface elements for input and/or output can additionally be incorporated into the device such as audio output elements, buttons, touch sensors, and the like. Feedback can be delivered through a system integrated with the head-wearable item 120 or a secondary computing device such as a smart phone, smart watch, a computer, and/or another suitable computing device; [0121]: a runner could receive feedback to target a particular cadence and/or vertical oscillation metric but while maintaining head orientation in a posture where the runner is looking up at the horizon; [0134]: triggering the action response may include initializing a notification communicated to the secondary computing device; [0136]: triggering the action response can include triggering a feedback alert. The feedback alert can be haptic feedback, an audio alert, a visual alert, and/or any suitable type of alert. The type and variety of feedback alerts are preferably mapped to different forms of feedback. For example, there can be one form of feedback alert for good posture and a second form for bad posture; [0140]: triggering an action response may also be used in augmenting operation of a secondary computing device. A notification, message or instruction can be communicated to the second computing device that then preferably acts on that communication).
Regarding claim 1, Chang teaches a method of monitoring posture ([0030]: A potential benefit of one set of applications of the system and method may include the generation of ergonomic/posture feedback. The system and method may be used in guiding the correction of posture), comprising:
in accordance with a determination that a sensor (inertial measurement unit 112, fig. 1) of a pair of smart glasses (the activity monitoring system 110 integrated with a head-wearable item such as smart glasses includes an inertial sensor; [0034]: The activity monitoring system 110 can include an inertial measurement unit 112; [0036]: The inertial measurement unit 112 functions to measure multiple kinematic properties of an activity. In particular, the inertial measurement unit 112 generates kinematic data reflecting the movements of a user's head. An inertial measurement unit 112 can include at least one accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and/or other suitable inertial sensor. The inertial measurement unit preferably includes a set of sensors aligned for detection of kinematic properties along three perpendicular axes. In one preferred variation, the inertial measurement unit 112 is a 9-axis motion-tracking device that includes a 3-axis gyroscope, a 3-axis accelerometer, and a 3-axis magnetometer; [0043]: the activity monitoring system no may be integrated into the design of the head-wearable item 120. For example, glasses may have the activity monitoring system 110 integrated into frames of the glasses; [0078]: Block S110, which includes collecting kinematic data from an activity monitoring system coupled to a user head region, functions to sense, detect, or otherwise obtain sensor data relating to motion and/or orientation of some portion of a user's head. The activity monitoring system preferably includes an activity monitoring system integrated with a head-wearable item as described above. In one variation, the activity monitoring system is integrated into eyewear. Eyewear may include vision corrective eyewear, sunglasses, safety goggles, smart glasses, a VR/AR headset, a glasses frame, or other forms of eyewear) includes data that indicates a wearer has a first posture (runner running with the head looking down at the ground is classified as bad posture and corresponds to the first posture; [0027]: detecting posture and providing feedback; [0065]: A posture processing module can function to characterize posture and more specifically neck/head posture. A posture processing module can be used to determine if a user is slouching from the neck and alert the user to adjust in an appropriate manner. A posture processing module of one variation can provide a measure of current posture's offset from a target posture; [0086]: Generating a set of activity signals may include tracking head orientation, measuring posture, generating a set of locomotion biomechanical signals, classifying activity state, detecting item-specific activity, and/or other forms of detection; [0087]: Tracking head orientation functions to generate a measurement or set of measurements that characterize the orientation and/or position of the head. This can preferably be used to characterize at least one of side-to-side tilt (i.e., head roll), side-to-side rotation (i.e., head yaw), and/or up-down angle (i.e., head pitch) as shown in FIG. 3; [0090]: Measuring posture functions to generate a metric that reflects the nature of a user's posture; [0091]: measuring posture can be an offset measurement of the head orientation relative to a target posture orientation … the target orientation may change depending on the current activity. Accordingly, measuring posture can include detecting a current activity through the kinematic data (or other sources), selecting a current target posture orientation for the current activity and measuring orientation relative to the current target posture orientation; [0092]: A posture processing module can function to characterize posture and more specifically neck/head posture. A posture processing module can be used to determine if a user is slouching from the neck and alert the user to adjust in an appropriate manner. A posture processing module of one variation can provide a measure of current posture's offset from a target posture; [0094]: another posture model can track the amount of time the head is spent in various orientations such as looking forward, up, down, left, right and other various orientations. The feedback can be triggered based on the orientation such as the feedback may be generated after 30 seconds of looking in a downward direction, while looking to the left or right side may not generate a feedback signal, or may generate a feedback signal after a longer duration; [0121]: The running response conditions may promote a base posture of the head looking out in front of the runner instead of down at the ground. This could be used to trigger feedback when a runner has been running with his or her head down for a long duration; [0127]: monitoring the set of activity signals can include detecting head orientations satisfying an undesired head posture condition. The head posture condition can be orientation, sustained duration of orientation (e.g., holding a head position in an orientation range for some duration of time), intermittent duration orientation (e.g., how long head was in a position over the course of 10 minutes, hour, day, etc.), and the like; [0129]: Alerts, coaching, and/or directed exercises may be triggered in block S140 to counteract the posture biases. For example, a user that rarely looks to their sides may be coached to look left and right periodically. Similarly, a user that has their head tilted at an orientation weighted as an infrequent position, but has their head in that position for a large amount of time in a time window may be alerted to use caution in their posture), notifying the wearer (trigger feedback) at another device (a secondary computing device) that they have a first posture (a second form of feedback is provided to the user with bad posture using the secondary computing device such as a smart phone or smart watch; [0041]: The system can additionally include one or more feedback elements, which function to provide a medium for delivering real-time feedback to the user. A feedback element can include a haptic feedback element (e.g., a vibrational motor), audio speakers, a display, or other mechanisms for delivering feedback. Other user interface elements for input and/or output can additionally be incorporated into the device such as audio output elements, buttons, touch sensors, and the like. Feedback can be delivered through a system integrated with the head-wearable item 120 or a secondary computing device such as a smart phone, smart watch, a computer, and/or another suitable computing device; [0121]: This could be used to trigger feedback when a runner has been running with his or her head down for a long duration; [0134]: triggering the action response may include initializing a notification communicated to the secondary computing device; [0136]: triggering the action response can include triggering a feedback alert. The feedback alert can be haptic feedback, an audio alert, a visual alert, and/or any suitable type of alert. The type and variety of feedback alerts are preferably mapped to different forms of feedback. For example, there can be one form of feedback alert for good posture and a second form for bad posture; [0140]: triggering an action response may also be used in augmenting operation of a secondary computing device. A notification, message or instruction can be communicated to the second computing device that then preferably acts on that communication); and
in accordance with a determination that the sensor (inertial measurement unit 112, fig. 1) of the pair of smart glasses (the activity monitoring system 110 integrated with a head-wearable item such as smart glasses includes an inertial sensor; [0034]: The activity monitoring system 110 can include an inertial measurement unit 112; [0036]: The inertial measurement unit 112 functions to measure multiple kinematic properties of an activity. In particular, the inertial measurement unit 112 generates kinematic data reflecting the movements of a user's head. An inertial measurement unit 112 can include at least one accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and/or other suitable inertial sensor. The inertial measurement unit preferably includes a set of sensors aligned for detection of kinematic properties along three perpendicular axes. In one preferred variation, the inertial measurement unit 112 is a 9-axis motion-tracking device that includes a 3-axis gyroscope, a 3-axis accelerometer, and a 3-axis magnetometer; [0043]: the activity monitoring system no may be integrated into the design of the head-wearable item 120. For example, glasses may have the activity monitoring system 110 integrated into frames of the glasses; [0078]: Block S110, which includes collecting kinematic data from an activity monitoring system coupled to a user head region, functions to sense, detect, or otherwise obtain sensor data relating to motion and/or orientation of some portion of a user's head. The activity monitoring system preferably includes an activity monitoring system integrated with a head-wearable item as described above. In one variation, the activity monitoring system is integrated into eyewear. Eyewear may include vision corrective eyewear, sunglasses, safety goggles, smart glasses, a VR/AR headset, a glasses frame, or other forms of eyewear) includes additional data that indicates the wearer has a second posture distinct from the first posture (posture of runner running with head looking at the horizon and posture of runner running with head looking at the ground are different postures; runner running with the head looking up at the horizon is classified as good posture and corresponds to the second posture; [0027]: detecting posture and providing feedback; [0065]: A posture processing module can function to characterize posture and more specifically neck/head posture. A posture processing module can be used to determine if a user is slouching from the neck and alert the user to adjust in an appropriate manner. A posture processing module of one variation can provide a measure of current posture's offset from a target posture; [0086]: Generating a set of activity signals may include tracking head orientation, measuring posture, generating a set of locomotion biomechanical signals, classifying activity state, detecting item-specific activity, and/or other forms of detection; [0087]: Tracking head orientation functions to generate a measurement or set of measurements that characterize the orientation and/or position of the head. This can preferably be used to characterize at least one of side-to-side tilt (i.e., head roll), side-to-side rotation (i.e., head yaw), and/or up-down angle (i.e., head pitch) as shown in FIG. 3; [0090]: Measuring posture functions to generate a metric that reflects the nature of a user's posture; [0091]: measuring posture can be an offset measurement of the head orientation relative to a target posture orientation … the target orientation may change depending on the current activity. Accordingly, measuring posture can include detecting a current activity through the kinematic data (or other sources), selecting a current target posture orientation for the current activity and measuring orientation relative to the current target posture orientation; [0092]: A posture processing module can function to characterize posture and more specifically neck/head posture. A posture processing module can be used to determine if a user is slouching from the neck and alert the user to adjust in an appropriate manner. A posture processing module of one variation can provide a measure of current posture's offset from a target posture; [0094]: another posture model can track the amount of time the head is spent in various orientations such as looking forward, up, down, left, right and other various orientations. The feedback can be triggered based on the orientation such as the feedback may be generated after 30 seconds of looking in a downward direction, while looking to the left or right side may not generate a feedback signal, or may generate a feedback signal after a longer duration; [0121]: running specific biomechanical signals such as cadence and vertical oscillation can be tracked and coached in combination with monitoring head orientation. For example, a runner could receive feedback to target a particular cadence and/or vertical oscillation metric but while maintaining head orientation in a posture where the runner is looking up at the horizon; [0127]: monitoring the set of activity signals can include detecting head orientations satisfying an undesired head posture condition. The head posture condition can be orientation, sustained duration of orientation (e.g., holding a head position in an orientation range for some duration of time), intermittent duration orientation (e.g., how long head was in a position over the course of 10 minutes, hour, day, etc.), and the like; [0129]: Alerts, coaching, and/or directed exercises may be triggered in block S140 to counteract the posture biases. For example, a user that rarely looks to their sides may be coached to look left and right periodically. Similarly, a user that has their head tilted at an orientation weighted as an infrequent position, but has their head in that position for a large amount of time in a time window may be alerted to use caution in their posture), notifying the wearer (trigger feedback) at another device (a secondary computing device) that they have a second posture (a first form of feedback is provided to the user with good posture using the secondary computing device such as a smart phone or smart watch; [0041]: The system can additionally include one or more feedback elements, which function to provide a medium for delivering real-time feedback to the user. A feedback element can include a haptic feedback element (e.g., a vibrational motor), audio speakers, a display, or other mechanisms for delivering feedback. Other user interface elements for input and/or output can additionally be incorporated into the device such as audio output elements, buttons, touch sensors, and the like. Feedback can be delivered through a system integrated with the head-wearable item 120 or a secondary computing device such as a smart phone, smart watch, a computer, and/or another suitable computing device; [0121]: a runner could receive feedback to target a particular cadence and/or vertical oscillation metric but while maintaining head orientation in a posture where the runner is looking up at the horizon; [0134]: triggering the action response may include initializing a notification communicated to the secondary computing device; [0136]: triggering the action response can include triggering a feedback alert. The feedback alert can be haptic feedback, an audio alert, a visual alert, and/or any suitable type of alert. The type and variety of feedback alerts are preferably mapped to different forms of feedback. For example, there can be one form of feedback alert for good posture and a second form for bad posture; [0140]: triggering an action response may also be used in augmenting operation of a secondary computing device. A notification, message or instruction can be communicated to the second computing device that then preferably acts on that communication).
Claim 13 is similar in scope to claim 7, and therefore the examiner provides similar rationale to reject claim 13. Moreover, Chang teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ([0143]).
Regarding claim 4, Chang teaches the method of claim 1, wherein: the notifying the wearer (trigger feedback) that they have the first posture (bad posture) includes providing a first visual indication (visual alert for bad posture such as promoting a base posture of the head looking out in front of the runner instead of down at the ground); a second form of feedback is provided to the user with bad posture using the secondary computing device such as a smart phone or smart watch; [0030]: guiding the correction of posture; [0041]: The system can additionally include one or more feedback elements, which function to provide a medium for delivering real-time feedback to the user. A feedback element can include a haptic feedback element (e.g., a vibrational motor), audio speakers, a display, or other mechanisms for delivering feedback. Other user interface elements for input and/or output can additionally be incorporated into the device such as audio output elements, buttons, touch sensors, and the like. Feedback can be delivered through a system integrated with the head-wearable item 120 or a secondary computing device such as a smart phone, smart watch, a computer, and/or another suitable computing device; [0121]: This could be used to trigger feedback when a runner has been running with his or her head down for a long duration; [0134]: triggering the action response may include initializing a notification communicated to the secondary computing device; [0136]: triggering the action response can include triggering a feedback alert. The feedback alert can be haptic feedback, an audio alert, a visual alert, and/or any suitable type of alert. The type and variety of feedback alerts are preferably mapped to different forms of feedback. For example, there can be one form of feedback alert for good posture and a second form for bad posture); and the notifying the wearer (trigger feedback) that they have the second posture (good posture) includes providing a second visual indication (visual alert for good posture such as a runner could receive feedback to target a particular cadence and/or vertical oscillation metric) that is different from the first visual indication (visual alert for good posture is different from visual alert for bad posture; a first form of feedback is provided to the user with good posture using the secondary computing device such as a smart phone or smart watch; [0041]: The system can additionally include one or more feedback elements, which function to provide a medium for delivering real-time feedback to the user. A feedback element can include a haptic feedback element (e.g., a vibrational motor), audio speakers, a display, or other mechanisms for delivering feedback. Other user interface elements for input and/or output can additionally be incorporated into the device such as audio output elements, buttons, touch sensors, and the like. Feedback can be delivered through a system integrated with the head-wearable item 120 or a secondary computing device such as a smart phone, smart watch, a computer, and/or another suitable computing device; [0121]: a runner could receive feedback to target a particular cadence and/or vertical oscillation metric but while maintaining head orientation in a posture where the runner is looking up at the horizon; [0134]: triggering the action response may include initializing a notification communicated to the secondary computing device; [0136]: triggering the action response can include triggering a feedback alert. The feedback alert can be haptic feedback, an audio alert, a visual alert, and/or any suitable type of alert. The type and variety of feedback alerts are preferably mapped to different forms of feedback. For example, there can be one form of feedback alert for good posture and a second form for bad posture).
Regarding claim 5, Chang teaches the method of claim 1, wherein monitoring posture of the wearer occurs while the wearer is performing an exercise (posture monitoring is activated when the user is performing an exercise or running; [0061]: locomotion-based biomechanical processing modules may be activated when a walking or running activity state is detected; [0115]: Balance can be a measure of posture or motion stability when walking, running, standing, carrying, or performing any suitable activity; [0121]: In another example, when the current activity state classification is running, a running-specific set of response conditions can be selected for monitoring. The running response conditions may promote a base posture of the head looking out in front of the runner instead of down at the ground. This could be used to trigger feedback when a runner has been running with his or her head down for a long duration. Various other running response conditions may also be monitored such as tracking various biomechanical signals and comparing them to different targeted goals. In some variations, various biomechanical signals may be monitored in combination with head orientation. In one variation, running specific biomechanical signals such as cadence and vertical oscillation can be tracked and coached in combination with monitoring head orientation. For example, a runner could receive feedback to target a particular cadence and/or vertical oscillation metric but while maintaining head orientation in a posture where the runner is looking up at the horizon; [0137]: triggering the action response can include directing an exercise interaction. Exercise interactions can be used as a form of feedback alert as above. The exercise interaction is preferably selected to counteract some issue detected in the response condition. For example, different forms of bad posture may have different exercises triggered to stretch or strengthen different parts of the body; [0138]: In one variation in association with the response condition, a set of exercises is generated in response to the monitored activity signals. The set of exercises are preferably customized to address the particular head orientation and activity patterns observed in the kinematic data. Triggering an action response can include communicating or directing the set of exercises with coordinated timing. The set of exercises are preferably communicated over spaced intervals as discussed above. As neck exercises can be brief exercises, the various exercises can be dispersed across the course of a day without significantly interfering with normal activity. Additionally, directing the set of exercises can comprise adjusting the order, duration, repetitions, and/or other aspects when communicating the exercises; [0139]: Delivery of exercise interactions as well as feedback alerts may be timed to enhance user susceptibility. This can be based on heuristics, a machine learning model, or any suitable approach. For example, exercise interactions may be delivered not during the poor posture but during a particular activity like walking. A user may be less distracted at those periods and more open to performing the activity; claim 18: triggering the action response comprises directing an exercise interaction).
Regarding claim 6, Chang teaches the method of claim 5, wherein monitoring the posture of the wearer aids in performing an exercise correctly (different forms of bad postures during running or exercising triggers difference exercises to improve posture; [0121]: In another example, when the current activity state classification is running, a running-specific set of response conditions can be selected for monitoring. The running response conditions may promote a base posture of the head looking out in front of the runner instead of down at the ground. This could be used to trigger feedback when a runner has been running with his or her head down for a long duration. Various other running response conditions may also be monitored such as tracking various biomechanical signals and comparing them to different targeted goals. In some variations, various biomechanical signals may be monitored in combination with head orientation. In one variation, running specific biomechanical signals such as cadence and vertical oscillation can be tracked and coached in combination with monitoring head orientation. For example, a runner could receive feedback to target a particular cadence and/or vertical oscillation metric but while maintaining head orientation in a posture where the runner is looking up at the horizon; [0127]: If the magnitude of a head orientation metric (e.g., duration, density distribution or occurrence count) in a particular region of the orientation map is below a threshold then the user may be directed to move their head into that orientation and/or performing exercises/stretches to expand flexibility to be able to move their head to that orientation; [0137]: triggering the action response can include directing an exercise interaction. Exercise interactions can be used as a form of feedback alert as above. The exercise interaction is preferably selected to counteract some issue detected in the response condition. For example, different forms of bad posture may have different exercises triggered to stretch or strengthen different parts of the body).
Claims 10-12 and 16-17 are similar in rationale to claims 4-6 and 4-5, respectively, and therefore the examiner provides similar rationale to reject these claims.
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.
Claim(s) 2-3, 8-9 and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang, and further in view of Kim (US 2014/0015736).
Regarding claim 2, Chang does not explicitly teach the method of claim 1, comprising: notifying the wearer that they have the first posture at the pair of smart glasses (a second form of feedback is provided to the user with bad posture using the head-wearable item 120; [0041]: The system can additionally include one or more feedback elements, which function to provide a medium for delivering real-time feedback to the user. A feedback element can include a haptic feedback element (e.g., a vibrational motor), audio speakers, a display, or other mechanisms for delivering feedback. Other user interface elements for input and/or output can additionally be incorporated into the device such as audio output elements, buttons, touch sensors, and the like. Feedback can be delivered through a system integrated with the head-wearable item 120 or a secondary computing device such as a smart phone, smart watch, a computer, and/or another suitable computing device; [0121]: This could be used to trigger feedback when a runner has been running with his or her head down for a long duration; [0134]: triggering the action response may include initializing a notification communicated to the secondary computing device; [0136]: triggering the action response can include triggering a feedback alert. The feedback alert can be haptic feedback, an audio alert, a visual alert, and/or any suitable type of alert. The type and variety of feedback alerts are preferably mapped to different forms of feedback. For example, there can be one form of feedback alert for good posture and a second form for bad posture) or notifying the wearer that they have the second posture at the pair of smart glasses (a first form of feedback is provided to the user with good posture using the head-wearable item 120; [0041]: The system can additionally include one or more feedback elements, which function to provide a medium for delivering real-time feedback to the user. A feedback element can include a haptic feedback element (e.g., a vibrational motor), audio speakers, a display, or other mechanisms for delivering feedback. Other user interface elements for input and/or output can additionally be incorporated into the device such as audio output elements, buttons, touch sensors, and the like. Feedback can be delivered through a system integrated with the head-wearable item 120 or a secondary computing device such as a smart phone, smart watch, a computer, and/or another suitable computing device; [0121]: a runner could receive feedback to target a particular cadence and/or vertical oscillation metric but while maintaining head orientation in a posture where the runner is looking up at the horizon; [0134]: triggering the action response may include initializing a notification communicated to the secondary computing device; [0136]: triggering the action response can include triggering a feedback alert. The feedback alert can be haptic feedback, an audio alert, a visual alert, and/or any suitable type of alert. The type and variety of feedback alerts are preferably mapped to different forms of feedback. For example, there can be one form of feedback alert for good posture and a second form for bad posture; [0140]: triggering an action response may also be used in augmenting operation of a secondary computing device. A notification, message or instruction can be communicated to the second computing device that then preferably acts on that communication).
Chang does not explicitly teach the notification is provided to the wearer at the pair of smart glasses in accordance with a determination that the wearer is not viewing the other device.
Kim teaches the notification is provided to the wearer at the pair of smart glasses (HMD 100, fig. 5) in accordance with a determination that the wearer is not viewing the other device (digital device 200 corresponds to the other device; when the system determines the user 10 wearing HMD 100 is not looking at the digital device 200, the system switches the display of content 1 to the HMD 100; fig. 5b shows the user 10 looking at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200; [0075]: referring to FIG. 5 (b), according to an embodiment of the present invention, while a user 10 is wearing the HMD 100, the user 10 may look at a different spot instead of looking at the display unit 220 of the digital device 200. In doing so, the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 may be located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100. Thus, if the display unit 220 of the digital device 200 is present outside the digital device 200, the HMD 100 may be able to output the content 1. According to one embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 5 (b), the HMD 100 has already established the communication connection with the digital device 200. Hence, the HMD 100 receives the content 1 from the digital device 200 via a network 300 by real time and may be then able to output the received content 1. Meanwhile, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the digital device 200 may stop displaying the content 1 in the second state in which the digital device 200 is located outside the view angle region 102 of the HMD 100). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Kim’s knowledge of switching the display from the external device to the HMD based on the user’s view direction as taught and modify the process of Chang because such a process of automatically performing the switching of display devices without a manual input performed by the user enhances the user’s viewing experience.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Chang and Kim teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the notifying is an audible feedback provided at the pair of smart glasses (feedback is delivered to head-wearable item 120 (eyewear such as smart glasses) using its’ audio speakers; [0023]: the eyewear can be smart glasses which may include the system and method in addition to audio capabilities, tactile feedback, a display, touch controls or other forms of user input, and other elements; [0041]: The system can additionally include one or more feedback elements, which function to provide a medium for delivering real-time feedback to the user. A feedback element can include a haptic feedback element (e.g., a vibrational motor), audio speakers, a display, or other mechanisms for delivering feedback. Other user interface elements for input and/or output can additionally be incorporated into the device such as audio output elements, buttons, touch sensors, and the like. Feedback can be delivered through a system integrated with the head-wearable item 120 or a secondary computing device such as a smart phone, smart watch, a computer, and/or another suitable computing device; [0136]: triggering the action response can include triggering a feedback alert. The feedback alert can be haptic feedback, an audio alert, a visual alert, and/or any suitable type of alert. The type and variety of feedback alerts are preferably mapped to different forms of feedback. For example, there can be one form of feedback alert for good posture and a second form for bad posture).
Claims 8-9 and 14-15 are similar in scope to claims 2-3, and therefore the examiner provides similar rationale to reject these claims.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tsotsos et al. (US 2023/0285805) describes the head-mounted device can include a form monitor 630. The form monitor 630 can determine when the orientation 110, 0 of the user 150 determined by the orientation determiner 617 falls outside the orientation range determined by the orientation range determiner 624. In some examples, the speaker 610 can output an audible notification to the user 150 to correct a body posture of the user 150 when the form monitor 630 determines that the form of the user 150 has fallen outside the orientation range. For example, the speaker 610 can instruct the user 150 to, “Lower your hips,” when the form monitor 630 determines that the orientation 110 of the head-mounted device 100 is too low, and/or the speaker 610 can instruct the user 150 to, “raise your hips,” when the form monitor 630 determines that the orientation 110 of the head-mounted device 100 is too high.
Perry et al. (US 2018/0288516) describes that after categorizing the user's head orientation by determining which pose is being performed, the pose that is being performed can be compared to a desired sequence of poses associated with a head movement exercise routine. If, for example, the user was expected to perform neck stretches in a left-forward-right-backward order, control circuitry 28 may, during the operations of block 88 determine whether the pose that was identified during the operations of block 86 falls within the desired pose sequence and has occurred in a timely fashion. If a pose is performed unsatisfactorily (e.g., in the wrong order, at the wrong time, etc.), the user may be provided with an alert (e.g., negative feedback in the form of an audible tone indicative of an unsatisfactory pose such as a buzzer sound, spoken feedback, etc.). Positive feedback such as a pleasant chime or other positive audio feedback can be played back to the user with ear buds 24 in the event that control circuitry 28 determines that the desired pose has been satisfactorily performed. Head pose guidance may be provided to a user during the operations of FIG. 6. For example, control circuitry 28 may use speaker 34 to provide the user with instructions such as “tilt left now” that serve as real-time user head pose guidance.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JWALANT B AMIN whose telephone number is (571)272-2455. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am - 630pm CST.
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/JWALANT AMIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612
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