DETAILED ACTION
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) 1-7 and 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2020/0342678) in view of Lee (US 2024/0064414).
Regarding claim 1, Zhang discloses a control device (see fig. 1) for controlling a head mounted display (see fig. 2) that includes
a first image sensor (100, fig. 2 as applied to the right eye) provided to correspond to a right eye of a user (see fig. 2 and para. 14, 19),
a second image sensor provided to correspond to a left eye of the user (para. 20 as applied to fig. 2, wherein multiple cameras are used),
a first display (102, fig. 2 as applied to the right eye) configured to present an image to the right eye of the user, and
a second display configured to present an image to the left eye of the user (para. 20 and fig. 2 as applied the left eye),
the control device comprising one or more processors and/or circuitry (50 in fig. 1 and para. 17) configured to:
execute setting processing of
setting any of a plurality of modes including a first mode (VR in fig. 7 and para. 29) and a second mode (MR in fig. 7 and para. 29); and
execute control processing of
performing control, in the first mode (VR in fig. 7), to display an image captured by the first image sensor with a first image quality on the first display (see fig. 7 and para. 29; wherein the first camera frame rate is at 30hz during VR mode) and to display an image captured by the second image sensor (para. 20; wherein multiple cameras are used) with the first image quality on the second display (see fig. 7 and para. 29; wherein the first camera frame rate is at 30hz during VR mode), and
performing control, in the second mode, to display an image captured by an other image sensor (para. 20; wherein multiple cameras are used) with a second image quality higher than the first image quality on the first display or the second display (see fig. 7 and para. 29; wherein the first camera frame rate is at 96hz during MR mode).
Zhang fails to disclose stopping one image sensor and starting a second image sensor. In other words, Zhang fails to disclose using two independent cameras, having independent camera frame rates.
Lee discloses to stop one image sensor of the first image sensor and the second image sensor (para. 157; wherein first and second cameras are used in the alternative) and to display an image captured by an other image sensor (para 211 and fig. 19; wherein second image 19-1 is shot with a camera) with a second image quality higher than the first image quality on the first display or the second display (para. 211 and fig. 19; wherein the camera image has a higher resolution in 19-1 than the infrared camera image in 19-2).
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of Lee in the device of Zhang. The motivation for doing so would have been to use multiple cameras for capturing images at different image qualities and further using the cameras in the alternative (Lee; fig. 12 and fig. 19, such that depending on the circumstance/input a particular camera is selected out of e.g. two camera types).
Regarding claim 2, Zhang discloses wherein the image captured with the first image quality is an image captured at a first frame rate (30hz in para. 29), and the image captured with the second image quality is an image captured at a second frame rate (96hz in para. 29) higher than the first frame rate.
Regarding claim 3, Zhang discloses wherein the second frame rate is a frame rate twice the first frame rate (para. 29, 27).
Regarding claim 4, Zhang discloses wherein in the control processing in the second mode, control is performed to perform HDR compositing through which two images with different exposures that are sequentially captured by the other image sensor are composited (see beam chasing mode in para. 25), and to display an image acquired through the HDR compositing on the first display or the second display (para. 25, 29).
Regarding claim 5, Lee discloses wherein the image captured with the first image quality is an image captured with a first resolution (see 19-2 in fig. 19 and para. 211), and
the image captured with the second image quality is an image captured with a second resolution higher than the first resolution (see 19-1 in fig. 19 and para. 211).
The same rational to combine the art in claim 1 applies to claim 5.
Regarding claim 6, Lee discloses wherein the plurality of modes includes a third mode (fig. 19), the image captured with the first image quality is an image captured with a first resolution (19-2 in fig. 19 and para. 211), and
in the third mode, control is performed to stop one image sensor of the first image sensor and the second image sensor (para. 157; wherein first and second cameras are used in the alternative) and to display an image captured by an other image sensor with a second resolution higher than the first resolution on the first display or the second display (para. 211 and fig. 19; wherein the camera image has a higher resolution in 19-1 than the infrared camera image in 19-2).
The same rational to combine the art in claim 1 applies to claim 6.
Regarding claim 7, Lee discloses wherein the second mode is a still image capturing mode (para. 153).
The same rational to combine the art in claim 1 applies to claim 7.
Claims 9-10 are rejected for the same reasons as stated for claim 1 above.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Lee in further view of Fowers (US 9,035,874).
Regarding claim 8, Zhang fails to disclose an eye closing input.
Fowers discloses wherein the one or more processors and/or circuitry further configured to execute detection processing of detecting the user closing one eye (608, fig. 6), and in a case where the user closing one eye is detected in the detection processing, the second mode is set in the setting processing (610, fig. 6; wherein the display mode is changed).
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of Fowers in the device of Zhang. The motivation for doing so would have been to accept eye blinking/closing as a form of input that triggers display mode changes (Fowers; fig. 6 and Abstract). Further wherein Zhang discloses switching between modes based on user input (see para. 30).
Conclusion
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/ROBIN J MISHLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628