DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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 § 102
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.
2. Claim(s) 2, 6-7, 9, 13-14, 16, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shiller (US Patent/PGPub. No. 7797107).
Regarding Claim 2, (New)
Shiller teaches
a method (Col. 4, Ln. 60-64, FIG. 1-6, i.e. method for transmitting a warning signal to a driver of a driven vehicle regarding an impending collision) comprising:
determining a velocity of the device (Col. 4, Ln. 65-68, FIG. 1-6, i.e. obtaining updated data regarding, position, velocity vector and predicted moving path of said objects);
determining a boundary of region (Col. 3, Ln. 58-65, FIG. 4-6, i.e. "collision cone" …Collision cone 20) proximate to the device (i.e. please see above citation(s)), wherein a distance (Col. 3, Ln. 45-54, FIG. 4, i.e. all possible relative velocity vectors VAB … is bounded by lines R and F which originate at A and are tangent to circle B (that is the distance varies from A to the circle having center B bounded by lines R and F)) of the boundary from the device is determined based on the velocity (Col. 3, Ln. 45-54, FIG. 4, i.e. all possible relative velocity vectors VAB … is bounded by lines R and F which originate at A and are tangent to circle B (that is the distance varies from A to circle having center B bounded by lines R and F; Col. 3, Ln. 58-67, Col. 4, Ln. 1-8, FIG. 5-6, i.e. velocity obstacle (VO) … e.g. VO 25 and 26 (Please note that the distance of the boundary to the object is changed based on the velocity. For example, in FIG. 4, the distance between A and B is bounded by the region defined by line R, line F, and arc having center at B. In FIG. 5, since B is moved by vector VB which is added to A at A’, segment AR in FIG. 4 is changed to the segment which start from A’ to the shortest distance to circle having center B corresponding to velocity vector VB. In FIG. 6, there is an additional object B1. As B1 moves, vector VB1 is added to A and at the end of VB1, distance from A to B1 is defined similarly to FIG. 5 (also note that the boundaries are changed accordingly. In FIG. 4, collision cone 20; velocity obstacle (VO) 25 in FIG. 5; and additional VO 26 in FIG. 6)); and
in accordance with a determination that a physical object intersects the boundary (Col. 4, Ln. 5-8, FIG. 5-6, i.e. driven vehicle A … terminates inside the overlapping region between VOs 25 and 26, will result in a collision with obstacle B or B1), initiating a notification procedure (Col. 4, Ln. 40-45, FIG. 5-6, i.e. provide … a set of warnings having escalating severity levels).
Regarding Claim 6, (New)
Shiller teaches
the method of claim 2, wherein the notification procedure (i.e. please see above citation(s)) comprises performing at least one selected from a group consisting of an audio notification, a visual notification (Col. 6, Ln. 60-64, FIG. 4-6, i.e. display for receiving said warning signal), and a haptic notification.
Regarding Claim 7, (New)
Shiller teaches
the method of claim 6, wherein initiating the notification procedure (i.e. please see above citation(s)) comprises:
determining a direction (FIG. 4-6, i.e. as shown by the figure(s) directions of VA, VB, and VB1) of the velocity (i.e. please see above citation(s)); and
selecting a notification type (Col. 6, Ln. 60-64, FIG. 4-6, i.e. display for receiving said warning signal) in accordance with the direction (i.e. please see above citation(s)).
Regarding Claim 9, (New)
Shiller teaches
a non-transitory computer readable medium (Col. 14, Ln. 23-36, FIG. 23, i.e. on-board computer 114) comprising computer readable code (Col. 14, Ln. 23-36, FIG. 23, i.e. processing data) executable by one or more processors (Col. 14, Ln. 23-36, FIG. 23, i.e. control components 116) to:
determine a velocity of the device (Col. 4, Ln. 65-68, FIG. 1-6, i.e. obtaining updated data regarding, position, velocity vector and predicted moving path of said objects);
determine a boundary of region (Col. 3, Ln. 58-65, FIG. 4-6, i.e. "collision cone" …Collision cone 20) proximate to the device (i.e. please see above citation(s)), wherein a distance (Col. 3, Ln. 45-54, FIG. 4, i.e. all possible relative velocity vectors VAB … is bounded by lines R and F which originate at A and are tangent to circle B (that is the distance varies from A to the circle having center B bounded by lines R and F)) of the boundary from the device is determined based on the velocity (Col. 3, Ln. 45-54, FIG. 4, i.e. all possible relative velocity vectors VAB … is bounded by lines R and F which originate at A and are tangent to circle B (that is the distance varies from A to circle having center B bounded by lines R and F; Col. 3, Ln. 58-67, Col. 4, Ln. 1-8, FIG. 5-6, i.e. velocity obstacle (VO) … e.g. VO 25 and 26 (Please note that the distance of the boundary to the object is changed based on the velocity. For example, in FIG. 4, the distance between A and B is bounded by the region defined by line R, line F, and arc having center at B. In FIG. 5, since B is moved by vector VB which is added to A at A’, segment AR in FIG. 4 is changed to the segment which start from A’ to the shortest distance to circle having center B corresponding to velocity vector VB. In FIG. 6, there is an additional object B1. As B1 moves, vector VB1 is added to A and at the end of VB1, distance from A to B1 is defined similarly to FIG. 5 (also note that the boundaries are changed accordingly. In FIG. 4, collision cone 20; velocity obstacle (VO) 25 in FIG. 5; and additional VO 26 in FIG. 6)); and
in accordance with a determination that a physical object intersects the boundary (Col. 4, Ln. 5-8, FIG. 5-6, i.e. driven vehicle A … terminates inside the overlapping region between VOs 25 and 26, will result in a collision with obstacle B or B1), initiate a notification procedure (Col. 4, Ln. 40-45, FIG. 5-6, i.e. provide … a set of warnings having escalating severity levels).
Regarding Claim 13, (New)
Shiller teaches
the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the notification procedure (i.e. please see above citation(s)) comprises performing at least one selected from a group consisting of an audio notification, a visual notification (Col. 6, Ln. 60-64, FIG. 4-6, i.e. display for receiving said warning signal), and a haptic notification.
Regarding Claim 14, (New)
Shiller teaches
the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the computer readable code to initiate the notification procedure comprises computer readable code (i.e. please see above citation(s)) to:
determine a direction (FIG. 4-6, i.e. as shown by the figure(s) directions of VA, VB, and VB1) of the velocity (i.e. please see above citation(s)); and
select a notification type (Col. 6, Ln. 60-64, FIG. 4-6, i.e. display for receiving said warning signal) in accordance with the direction (i.e. please see above citation(s)).
Regarding Claim 16, (New)
Shiller teaches
a system (Col. 14, Ln. 23-36, FIG. 23, i.e. navigational system 110) comprising:
one or more processors (Col. 14, Ln. 23-36, FIG. 23, i.e. control components 116); and
one or more computer readable media (Col. 14, Ln. 23-36, FIG. 23, i.e. on-board computer 114) comprising computer readable code (Col. 14, Ln. 23-36, FIG. 23, i.e. processing data) executable by the one or more processors (i.e. please see above citation(s)) to:
determine a velocity of the device (Col. 4, Ln. 65-68, FIG. 1-6, i.e. obtaining updated data regarding, position, velocity vector and predicted moving path of said objects);
determine a boundary of region (Col. 3, Ln. 58-65, FIG. 4-6, i.e. "collision cone" …Collision cone 20) proximate to the device (i.e. please see above citation(s)), wherein a distance (Col. 3, Ln. 45-54, FIG. 4, i.e. all possible relative velocity vectors VAB … is bounded by lines R and F which originate at A and are tangent to circle B (that is the distance varies from A to the circle having center B bounded by lines R and F)) of the boundary from the device is determined based on the velocity (Col. 3, Ln. 45-54, FIG. 4, i.e. all possible relative velocity vectors VAB … is bounded by lines R and F which originate at A and are tangent to circle B (that is the distance varies from A to circle having center B bounded by lines R and F; Col. 3, Ln. 58-67, Col. 4, Ln. 1-8, FIG. 5-6, i.e. velocity obstacle (VO) … e.g. VO 25 and 26 (Please note that the distance of the boundary to the object is changed based on the velocity. For example, in FIG. 4, the distance between A and B is bounded by the region defined by line R, line F, and arc having center at B. In FIG. 5, since B is moved by vector VB which is added to A at A’, segment AR in FIG. 4 is changed to the segment which start from A’ to the shortest distance to circle having center B corresponding to velocity vector VB. In FIG. 6, there is an additional object B1. As B1 moves, vector VB1 is added to A and at the end of VB1, distance from A to B1 is defined similarly to FIG. 5 (also note that the boundaries are changed accordingly. In FIG. 4, collision cone 20; velocity obstacle (VO) 25 in FIG. 5; and additional VO 26 in FIG. 6)); and
in accordance with a determination that a physical object intersects the boundary (Col. 4, Ln. 5-8, FIG. 5-6, i.e. driven vehicle A … terminates inside the overlapping region between VOs 25 and 26, will result in a collision with obstacle B or B1), initiate a notification procedure (Col. 4, Ln. 40-45, FIG. 5-6, i.e. provide … a set of warnings having escalating severity levels).
Regarding Claim 20, (New)
Shiller teaches
the system of claim 16, wherein the notification procedure (i.e. please see above citation(s)) comprises performing at least one selected from a group consisting of an audio notification, a visual notification (Col. 6, Ln. 60-64, FIG. 4-6, i.e. display for receiving said warning signal), and a haptic notification.
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 of this title, 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.
3. Claim(s) 3-5, 10-12, and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiller (US Patent/PGPub. No. 7797107) in view of Liu et al. (US Patent/PGPub. No. 20190103026).
Regarding Claim 3, (New)
Shiller teaches
the method of claim 2.
However, Shiller does not explicitly teach
wherein the device is configured to present virtual content on a display, and wherein the notification procedure comprises increasing visibility of a physical environment on the display.
In the same field of endeavor, Liu et al. teach
wherein the device is configured to present virtual content ([0027], FIG. 2A, i.e. image frame captured from a forward-facing field of view of a vehicle 140) on a display ([0061], FIG. 9, i.e. display 918), and wherein the notification procedure ([0028], FIG. 2B, i.e. collision warning system 100 may crop a portion of the image frame 210) comprises increasing visibility of a physical environment ([0028], FIG. 2B, i.e. crop a portion of the image frame 210 to focus on a detected object in front of the vehicle 140) on the display (i.e. please see above citation(s)).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention’s effective date was filed to combine Shiller teaching method of detecting collision having boundary based on velocity of obstacle with Liu et al. teaching method of detecting obstacle comprising warning focus on pertinent images to effectively enhance user warning by focusing on pertinent images (Liu et al.’s [0028]).
Regarding Claim 4, (New)
the method of claim 2, wherein
Liu et al. teach
the boundary ([0029], FIG. 2B, i.e. bounding box) is determined based on body tracking data ([0030], FIG. 2B, i.e. collision warning system 100 may prioritize detection and tracking of objects; [0031], FIG. 3A, i.e. collision warning system 100 may include … tracker 330).
Regarding Claim 5, (New)
the method of claim 4, wherein
Liu et al. teach
the volume boundary ([0029], FIG. 2B, i.e. bounding box increases or decreases in size as the “bounded” detected object moves closer toward or further away from the vehicle 140) is determined based on the body tracking data (i.e. please see above citation(s)).
Regarding Claim 10, (New)
Shiller teaches
the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9.
However, Shiller does not explicitly teach
wherein the device is configured to present virtual content on a display, and wherein the notification procedure comprises increasing visibility of a physical environment on the display.
In the same field of endeavor, Liu et al. teach
wherein the device is configured to present virtual content ([0027], FIG. 2A, i.e. image frame captured from a forward-facing field of view of a vehicle 140) on a display ([0061], FIG. 9, i.e. display 918), and wherein the notification procedure ([0028], FIG. 2B, i.e. collision warning system 100 may crop a portion of the image frame 210) comprises increasing visibility of a physical environment ([0028], FIG. 2B, i.e. crop a portion of the image frame 210 to focus on a detected object in front of the vehicle 140) on the display (i.e. please see above citation(s)).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention’s effective date was filed to combine Shiller teaching computer medium detecting collision having boundary based on velocity of obstacle with Liu et al. teaching computer medium detecting obstacle comprising warning focus on pertinent images to effectively enhance user warning by focusing on pertinent images (Liu et al.’s [0028]).
Regarding Claim 11, (New)
the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein
Liu et al. teach
the boundary ([0029], FIG. 2B, i.e. bounding box) is determined based on body tracking data ([0030], FIG. 2B, i.e. collision warning system 100 may prioritize detection and tracking of objects; [0031], FIG. 3A, i.e. collision warning system 100 may include … tracker 330).
Regarding Claim 12, (New)
the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein
Liu et al. teach
the volume boundary ([0029], FIG. 2B, i.e. bounding box increases or decreases in size as the “bounded” detected object moves closer toward or further away from the vehicle 140) is determined based on the body tracking data (i.e. please see above citation(s)).
Regarding Claim 17, (New)
Shiller teaches
the system of claim 16.
However, Shiller does not explicitly teach
wherein the device is configured to present virtual content on a display, and wherein the notification procedure comprises increasing visibility of a physical environment on the display.
In the same field of endeavor, Liu et al. teach
wherein the device is configured to present virtual content ([0027], FIG. 2A, i.e. image frame captured from a forward-facing field of view of a vehicle 140) on a display ([0061], FIG. 9, i.e. display 918), and wherein the notification procedure ([0028], FIG. 2B, i.e. collision warning system 100 may crop a portion of the image frame 210) comprises increasing visibility of a physical environment on the display ([0028], FIG. 2B, i.e. crop a portion of the image frame 210 to focus on a detected object in front of the vehicle 140) on the display (i.e. please see above citation(s)).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention’s effective date was filed to combine Shiller teaching system of detecting collision having boundary based on velocity of obstacle with Liu et al. teaching system of detecting obstacle comprising warning focus on pertinent images to effectively enhance user warning by focusing on pertinent images (Liu et al.’s [0028]).
Regarding Claim 18, (New)
the system of claim 16, wherein
Liu et al. teach
the boundary ([0029], FIG. 2B, i.e. bounding box) is determined based on body tracking data ([0030], FIG. 2B, i.e. collision warning system 100 may prioritize detection and tracking of objects; [0031], FIG. 3A, i.e. collision warning system 100 may include … tracker 330).
Regarding Claim 19, (New)
the system of claim 18, wherein
Liu et al. teach
the volume boundary ([0029], FIG. 2B, i.e. bounding box increases or decreases in size as the “bounded” detected object moves closer toward or further away from the vehicle 140) is determined based on the body tracking data (i.e. please see above citation(s)).
Allowable Subject Matter
4. Claim(s) 8, 15, and 21 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
5. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Shiller (US Patent/PGPub. No. 7797107) teaches method for transmitting a warning signal to a driver of a driven vehicle regarding an impending collision with a moving and/or stationary object in the vicinity of the driven vehicle. The method comprises the following steps of providing the driven vehicle with means for obtaining updated data regarding, position, velocity vector and predicted moving path of the objects; selecting a series of one or more time horizons having decreasing or increasing duration; for the longest of the selected time horizons: generating a linear velocity object (LVO) and/or non-linear velocity object (NLVO) of each of the objects; selecting a sampling time interval .DELTA.t, during which an LVO and/or NLVO is generated; determining a range of feasible velocity vector changes for the driven vehicle that are attainable within a performance time interval .DELTA.T; repeatedly providing the driver, after each .DELTA.t, with information regarding feasible velocity vector changes for the performance time interval; sensing, estimating or assuming dynamic changes parameters representing the movement of the driven vehicle within the performance time interval, and whenever required, generating a warning signal with an escalating severity level that reflects the relative imminence of collision with the objects and that corresponds to the longest time horizon; repeating the steps above, while each time generating an updated LVO and/or NLVO for a subsequent sampling time interval, until reaching another selected time horizon which is shorter than a previously selected time horizon and another selected time horizon, until collision is unavoidable.
Liu et al. (US Patent/PGPub. No. 20190103026) teach collision warning system determines probabilities of potential collisions between a vehicle and other objects such as other vehicles. In an embodiment, sensors of a client device capture sensor data including motion data and image frames from a forward-facing view of the vehicle. An orientation of the client device relative to the vehicle may be determined using the motion data. The collision warning system determines cropped portions of the image frames and detects an object captured the image frames by processing the cropped portions. The collision warning system determines a probability of a potential collision between the vehicle and the object by tracking motion of the object. Responsive to determining that the probability is greater than a threshold value, the collision warning system may provide a notification of the potential collision to a driver of the vehicle.
The subject matter of the claim(s) that could neither be found/suggested nor obviously combinable in the prior arts of record. The subject matter was a device/method including
“…detecting a change in the velocity to a second velocity less than the velocity; and
modifying the boundary in accordance with the second velocity.” (Claim 8; Claims 15 and 21 are similar), in combination with the other elements (or steps) of the device or apparatus and method recited in the claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINH TANG LAM whose telephone number is (571) 270-3704. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nitin K Patel can be reached at (571) 272-7677. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VINH T LAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628