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 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 20240111164, hereinafter Xu) in view of Stafford et al. (US 20190384381, hereinafter Stafford).
Regarding Claim 1, Xu discloses method for projection of images from a digital display, the method comprising:
determining distance and angle of each eye of each of one or more viewers relative to a 3D-enabled digital display based on image data from one or more cameras in proximity to the 3D-enabled digital display ([0141] setting position & orientation with eye tracking module 614 providing positions of the centers of rotation of the user's eyes indicative of the three-dimensional position of the user's eyes relative to camera 324 and using location information to determine if display 220 is properly aligned in the user's field of view; [0211] FIG. 12A, display surface 1202 is disposed somewhat below the user's horizon such that the user would have to look downward, at approximately the angle 1216, to look at the center of the display surface 1202, when the eye 1200 is at position 1206; [0224] FIG. 14); and
selecting image data for each eye of each of the one or more viewers of the 3D-enabled digital display based on the distance and angle of each eye of each of the one or more viewers relative to the 3D-enabled digital display ([0138] & [0140], images are rendered as if captured from the perspective of a camera having a specific location with respect to the user's or wearer's eye so as to provide images that appear to be from the perspective of the user or wearer & adjust the depths at which images are displayed by selecting which depth plane (or depth planes) are utilized at any given time to display the images;[0151]);
wherein selected image data supports eye-tracking-based determination of 3D projections for each eye of each of the one or more viewers ([0135] receiving images from eye-tracking camera(s) 324 and analyzes the image to extract various pieces of information such as detecting user's eye poses, a three-dimensional position of the user's eye relative to the eye-tracking camera 324, the direction one or both of the user's eyes 610 are focused on, the user's vergence depth (i.e., the depth from the user at which the user is focusing on), the positions of the user's pupils, the positions of the user's cornea and cornea sphere, the center of rotation of each of the user's eyes, and the center of perspective of each of the user's eyes); and
wherein the one or more viewers are in a position to see the 3D projections as 3D images ([0224]FIG. 14; [0225], FIGS. 13A & 13B, display registration volumes is defined by projections from the display surface 1202 and as the display surface 1202 moves relative to the eye 1200, so do the display registration volumes 1302a, 1302b).
Xu does not explicitly disclose the gaze angle of the eyes.
Stafford teaches the gaze angle of the eyes ( [0146], The software can then initialize the head tilt and eye gaze angles to zero for these initial values. Subsequently, whenever the user looks straight ahead at the camera, as in FIG. 9A and the corresponding top view shown in FIG. 9B, the reference points 924.sub.E, 924.sub.H, 924.sub.M, 924.sub.N, 928 and pupils 926 should be at or near their initial values; [0154] FIG. 10A, facial orientation characteristic tracking setup that is configured to track both the user's head tilt angle and eye gaze direction)
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of the gaze angle of the eyes as taught by Stafford ([0146]) into the imaging system of Xu in order to provide selective imaging filtering to objects in the periphery to selectively reduce visual artifacts due to high contrast for unimportant objects in the periphery and of images to be presented on the display (Stafford, [0029]).
Regarding Claim 2, Xu in view of Stafford discloses the method of claim 1,
Xu discloses wherein the determining distance and gaze angle of each eye of each of one or more viewers relative to a 3D-enabled digital display based on image data from one or more cameras in proximity to the 3D-enabled digital display comprises: determining that both eyes of one or more viewers are within range of one or more cameras such that imaging from the one or more cameras is capable of supporting eye tracking-based determination of 3D projections to each eye ([0211] FIG. 12A, display surface 1202 is disposed somewhat below the user's horizon such that the user would have to look downward, at approximately the angle 1216, to look at the center of the display surface 1202, when the eye 1200 is at position 1206; [0224] FIG. 14)).
Regarding Claim 3, Xu in view of Stafford discloses the method of claim 1, Xu discloses wherein the determining distance and gaze angle of each eye of each of one or more viewers relative to a 3D-enabled digital display based on image data from one or more cameras in proximity to the 3D-enabled digital display comprises: determining that only one eye of one or more viewers is within range of one or more cameras such that imaging from the one or more cameras is not capable of supporting eye-tracking-based determination of 3D projections to both eyes of the one or more viewers ([0141], determine if the head-mounted unit 602 has slipped down the user's nose bridge, thus moving display 220 away and down from the user's eyes (which may be undesirable), if the head-mounted unit 602 has been moved up the user's nose bridge, thus moving display 220 closer and up from the user's eyes, if the head-mounted unit 602 has been shifted left or right relative the user's nose bridge, if the head-mounted unit 602 has been lifted above the user's nose bridge, or if the head-mounted unit 602 has been moved in these or other ways away from a desired position or range of positions).
Regarding Claim 4, Xu in view of Stafford discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the determining distance and gaze angle of each eye of each of one or more viewers relative to a 3D-enabled digital display based on image data from one or more cameras in proximity to the 3D-enabled digital display comprises: Xu discloses determining that one or more viewers is out of range of one or more cameras such that imaging from the one or more cameras is not capable of supporting eye tracking ([0141], the registration observer 620 may determine if a left display in display system 220 is appropriately aligned with the user's left eye and a right display in display system 220 is appropriately aligned with the user's right eye. The registration observer 620 may determine if the head-mounted unit 602 is properly positioned by determining if the head-mounted unit 602 is positioned and oriented within a desired range of positions and/or orientations relative to the user's eyes).
Regarding Claim 5, Xu in view of Stafford discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the determining distance and gaze angle of each eye of each of one or more viewers relative to a 3D-enabled digital display based on image data from one or more cameras in proximity to the 3D-enabled digital display comprises: Xu discloses determining that one or more viewers is out of range of the 3D-enabled digital display such that any 3D projections rendered for that viewer would not appear as 3D images ([0141], the registration observer 620 may determine if a left display in display system 220 is appropriately aligned with the user's left eye and a right display in display system 220 is appropriately aligned with the user's right eye. The registration observer 620 may determine if the head-mounted unit 602 is properly positioned by determining if the head-mounted unit 602 is positioned and oriented within a desired range of positions and/or orientations relative to the user's eyes).
Regarding Claim 6, Xu in view of Stafford discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the determining distance and gaze angle of each eye of each of one or more viewers relative to a 3D-enabled digital display based on image data from one or more cameras in proximity to the 3D-enabled digital display comprises: Xu discloses determining that one or more viewers is positioned at an angle relative to the 3D- enabled digital display such that any 3D projections rendered for that viewer from the 3D- enabled display would not appear as 3D images ([0211] FIG. 12A, display surface 1202 may be tilted, such as at angle 1218 (with respect to the y-axis) such that, when the user is looking at the center of the display surface 1202 (e.g., looking slightly below the user's horizon), the display surface 1202 is generally perpendicular to the user's line of sight. In at least some embodiments, the display surface 1202 may also be shifted left or right (e.g., along the x-axis) relative to the nominal position of the user's eye such as a left-eye display surface may be shifted right-wards and a right-eye display surface may be shifted left-wards (e.g., display surfaces 1202 may be shifted towards each other) such that the user's lines of sight hits the centers of the display surfaces when focused at some distance less than infinity, which may increase user comfort during typical usage on the wearable device)
Regarding Claims 7-12, System claims 7-12 of using the corresponding method claimed in claims 1-6, and the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
Regarding Claims 13-17, Computer program product claims 13-17 of using the corresponding method claimed in claims 1-5, & the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
Regarding Claim 18, Xu in view of Stafford discloses the computer program product of claim 13, Xu discloses further comprising: assigning at least one camera configured to acquire eye region image data to at least one viewer based on an assessment of which camera among a plurality of cameras has the best position and viewing angle of an eye region of the at least one viewer ([0138], the render camera represent a perspective within render space from which the user or wearer is to view 3D virtual contents of the render space (e.g., virtual objects and is managed by a render engine to render virtual images based on the database of virtual objects to be presented to the eye such as the virtual images is rendered as if captured by a pinhole camera (corresponding to the “render camera”) having a specific set of intrinsic parameters (e.g., focal length, camera pixel size, principal point coordinates, skew/distortion parameters, etc.), and a specific set of extrinsic parameters (e.g., translational components and rotational components relative to the virtual world).
Regarding Claim 19, Xu in view of Stafford discloses the computer program product of claim 13, further comprising: wherein the selecting image data for each eye of each of the one or more viewers of the 3D-enabled digital display based on the distance and angle of each eye of each of the one or more viewers relative to the 3D-enabled digital display comprises: Xu discloses selecting no image data for a viewer if a determination has been made that the viewer is out of range or is at an angle relative to the 3d-enabled digital display such that eye tracking would not accurately inform 3D projection rendering and that the viewer would accordingly not be able to view rendered 3D projections as 3D images ([0141], the registration observer 620 may determine if a left display in display system 220 is appropriately aligned with the user's left eye and a right display in display system 220 is appropriately aligned with the user's right eye. The registration observer 620 may determine if the head-mounted unit 602 is properly positioned by determining if the head-mounted unit 602 is positioned and oriented within a desired range of positions and/or orientations relative to the user's eyes).
Regarding Claim 20, Xu in view of Stafford discloses the computer program product of claim 13, wherein the selecting image data for each eye of each of the one or more viewers of the 3D-enabled digital display based on the distance and gaze angle of each eye of each of the one or more viewers relative to the 3D-enabled digital display comprises: Xu discloses selecting no image data for a viewer if a determination has been made that the viewer is out of range or is at an angle relative to the 3d-enabled digital display such that the viewer would not be able to view any rendered 3D projections as 3D images ([0151], rotate the coordinate system to align the z-axis (i.e., the vergence depth axis) of the coordinate system with the cornea center (e.g., as indicated by the 3D cornea center estimation module 716) and may translate the camera center (i.e., the origin of the coordinate system) to a predetermined distance away from the cornea center such as 30 mm).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Samuel D Fereja whose telephone number is (469)295-9243. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DAVID CZEKAJ can be reached on (571) 272-7327. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAMUEL D FEREJA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2487
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