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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-6, and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ardovino (US 2019/0353904 A1).
Claim 1, Ardovino (Fig. 1-9) discloses an image display method (Fig. 5A and 5B) comprising:
presenting a stimulus (78; Fig. 5A) to a tactile sense (Paragraph [0034]; wherein provides a haptic feedback) of a user (100; Fig. 5A);
determining (Paragraph [0022-0026]; wherein discloses sensors used to determine movement and position of user), based on output of at least one sensor (26; Fig. 4) that detects a motion (Paragraph [0024]) of the user (100; Fig. 5A and 5B), whether a first motion (Fig. 5A; Paragraph [0039]; wherein haptic feedback is used to direct user toward a first location 64) of the user (100; Fig. 5A) after the stimulus is presented (78; Fig. 5A) satisfies a first condition (Paragraph [0037]; wherein discloses “The three-dimensional push notification virtual object 82 may be displayed based at least in part on the field of view 134”); and
displaying a first image (82; Fig. 5B) in a first region (134; Fig. 5B) of a video space (Fig. 4A) with at least one display (16; Fig. 1) when it is determined that the first motion (Fig. 5A; Paragraph [0039]; wherein haptic feedback is used to direct user toward a first location 64) satisfies the first condition (Paragraph [0037]; wherein discloses “The three-dimensional push notification virtual object 82 may be displayed based at least in part on the field of view 134”).
Claim 2, Ardovino (Fig. 1-9) discloses wherein the first condition (Paragraph [0037]; wherein discloses “The three-dimensional push notification virtual object 82 may be displayed based at least in part on the field of view 134”) is at least one of the user (100; Fig. 5A and 5B) directing a face of the user (130: Fig. 5A and 5B) in a direction of the first region (64; Fig. 5A and 5B; wherein discloses a first location) and the user (100; Fig. 5A and 5B) visually recognizing an image displayed (82; Fig. 5B) in the first region (64; Fig. 5B).
Claim 3, Ardovino (Fig. 1-9) discloses wherein the presenting the stimulus (78; Fig. 5A and 5B) includes at least one of:
moving air in the video space with a blower;
bringing a first object in the video space into contact with the user with the blower;
vibrating a second object (19A and 19B; Fig. 5A and 5B) in contact with the user (100; Fig. 5A and 5B) with a vibrator (Paragraph [0021]; wherein discloses “one or more haptic feedback devices 19 configured to provide tactile output (e.g. vibration)”); and
bringing a third object in the video space into contact with the user with a driver.
Claim 5, Ardovino (Fig. 1-9) discloses wherein the first motion includes at least one of a motion of the user looking around (Paragraph [0037]; wherein discloses “The processor 30 may be further configured to determine a field of view 134 of the user 100 based on the gaze direction 130. The field of view 134 may additionally be determined based on data captured by the outward-facing optical sensor 22 of the head-mounted display device 10”), a motion of the user (100; Fig. 4A) moving in the video space (Paragraph [0026]; wherein discloses a virtual space), and a motion of the user stopping in a specific region in the video space.
Claim 6, Ardovino (Fig. 1-9) discloses wherein the first image (84; Fig. 5A and 5B) includes an image that changes from a second image (82; Fig. 5A) to a third image (82; Fig. 5B).
Claim 8, Ardovino (Fig. 1-9) discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (304 and 306; Fig. 9) storing a program (Paragraph [0061]), the program (Fig. 8A-8E) causing a computer (300; Fig. 9) to execute:
determining (Paragraph [0022-0026]; wherein discloses sensors used to determine movement and position of user), based on output of at least one sensor (26; Fig. 4) that detects a motion (Paragraph [0024]) of the user (100; Fig. 5A and 5B), whether a first motion (Fig. 5A; Paragraph [0039]; wherein haptic feedback is used to direct user toward a first location 64) of the user (100; Fig. 5A) after the stimulus is presented (78; Fig. 5A) satisfies a first condition (Paragraph [0037]; wherein discloses “The three-dimensional push notification virtual object 82 may be displayed based at least in part on the field of view 134”); and
causing at least one display (16; Fig. 1) to display (Fig. 5B) a first image (82; Fig. 5B) in a first region (134; Fig. 5B) of a video space (Fig. 4A) when it is determined that the first motion (Fig. 5A; Paragraph [0039]; wherein haptic feedback is used to direct user toward a first location 64) satisfies the first condition (Paragraph [0037]; wherein discloses “The three-dimensional push notification virtual object 82 may be displayed based at least in part on the field of view 134”).
Claim 9, Ardovino (Fig. 1-9) discloses an image display system (10; Fig. 1) comprising:
at least one sensor (12; Fig. 1) configured to detect a motion of a user (Paragraph [0022-0026]);
at least one display (16; Fig. 1) configured to display an image (82A, 82B, and 82C; Fig. 4B) in a video space (Fig. 4B; Paragraph [0026]; wherein discloses a virtual space); and
a processor (302; Fig. 9) configured to execute (Paragraph [0056]):
determining (Paragraph [0022-0026]; wherein discloses sensors used to determine movement and position of user), based on output of at least one sensor (26; Fig. 4) that detects a motion (Paragraph [0024]) of the user (100; Fig. 5A and 5B), whether a first motion (Fig. 5A; Paragraph [0039]; wherein haptic feedback is used to direct user toward a first location 64) of the user (100; Fig. 5A) after the stimulus is presented (78; Fig. 5A) satisfies a first condition (Paragraph [0037]; wherein discloses “The three-dimensional push notification virtual object 82 may be displayed based at least in part on the field of view 134”); and
causing at least one display (16; Fig. 1) to display (Fig. 5B) a first image (82; Fig. 5B) in a first region (134; Fig. 5B) of a video space (Fig. 4A) when it is determined that the first motion (Fig. 5A; Paragraph [0039]; wherein haptic feedback is used to direct user toward a first location 64) satisfies the first condition (Paragraph [0037]; wherein discloses “The three-dimensional push notification virtual object 82 may be displayed based at least in part on the field of view 134”).
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ardovino (US 2019/0353904 A1) in view of Worley et al (US 9,478,067 B1).
Claim 4, Ardovino discloses the image display method according to claim 3.
Ardovino does not expressly disclose wherein the blower includes a vortex ring generator that generates a vortex ring.
Worley (Fig. 1-11) discloses wherein the blower (160; Fig. 1) includes a vortex ring generator that generates a vortex ring (Col. 5, Line 66-Col. 6, Line 6; wherein discloses “An pneumatic cannon 160 is shown mounted to the ceiling to direct concentrated air turbulence toward one or more users”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ardovino’s image display method by applying an pneumatic cannon, as taught by Worley, so to use an image display method with an pneumatic cannon for providing confirmation of user input or activity within in an otherwise visual environment (Col. 6, Lines 20-23).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ardovino (US 2019/0353904 A1) in view of Grant et al (US 2014/0256438 A1).
Claim 7, Ardovino discloses the image display method according to claim 1.
Ardovino does not expressly disclose wherein the presenting the stimulus includes presenting the stimulus at a first degree as a degree of the stimulus, and presenting the stimulus at a second degree higher than the first degree when it is determined that the first motion does not satisfy the first condition.
Grant (Fig. 1-9) discloses wherein the presenting the stimulus (130; Fig. 1; 908; Fig. 9) includes presenting the stimulus at a first degree as a degree of the stimulus (EGT; Fig. 6 and 7B; Paragraph [0049-0050]; wherein discloses a decreased haptic effect when user is looking at display), and presenting the stimulus (130; Fig. 1; 908; Fig. 9) at a second degree higher (EGA; Fig. 6 and 7A; Paragraph [0049-0050]; wherein discloses a very strong haptic effect when user is looking away from display) than the first degree (EGT; Fig. 6 and 7B; Paragraph [0049-0050]; wherein discloses a decreased haptic effect when user is looking at display) when it is determined that the first motion does not satisfy the first condition (Fig. 7A; wherein user is not looking at display).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ardovino’s image display method by applying different haptic effects, as taught by Grant, so to use an image display method with different haptic effects for providing eye gaze direction information as an input to create haptic effects in an electronic device so that the haptic effects may be better matched to the user's overall experience according to what the user is currently looking at (Paragraph [0003]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM J SNYDER whose telephone number is (571)270-3460. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chanh D Nguyen can be reached at (571)272-7772. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Adam J Snyder/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2623 06/19/2026
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