DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claim 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as it is drawn to transitory media (i.e. signals, carrier waves, etc.). While the applicants appear to be attempting to claim an article of manufacture which would qualify as one of the four statutory categories of invention, the applicants' language “machine storage medium,” covers both non-transitory computer readable storage media and transitory computer readable storage media, such as, signals (See MPEP 2111.01). Signals are, per se, non-statutory embodiments.
Examiner respectfully notes that amending the claim language from “machine storage medium” to “non-transitory machine storage medium” would resolve the above 35 U.S.C. 101 issues.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Furman (US 2020/0356171).
Regarding claim 1, Furman discloses a method of operating a brain computer interface system, comprising:
displaying, by a display unit (HMD 110b in fig. 1B), image data (see Field of View in fig. 1B) including a plurality of objects (see 107 and 109 in fig. 1B and para. 24);
generating, by a stimulus generator (155, fig. 1B), a visual stimulus (230, fig. 2) having a characteristic modulation corresponding to each of the plurality of objects (para. 32, 43, 50);
receiving neural signals from a neural signal capture device (151 in fig. 1B and para. 313);
determining an object of focus from the plurality of objects based on detecting a correlation between the neural signals and the characteristic modulation of the visual stimulus corresponding to the object of focus (see 220-230 in fig. 2 and para. 38); and
displaying a feedback element (see Animation in fig. 8B) for the object of focus, wherein the feedback element transitions from an orderless distribution of visual elements (see point object in para. 77 and fig. 8B; also see multiple units in para. 44) to an ordered distribution forming a recognizable shape (see tesseract in para. 77 and fig. 8B) based on a strength of the correlation between the neural signals and the characteristic modulation (para. 53, 55; wherein e.g. the longer the user focuses on an object the more the object modulates/changes).
Regarding claim 2, Furman discloses wherein the characteristic modulation is selectively applied to a high spatial frequency (HSF) component of the visual (para. 32, 31, 83; wherein the user is looking at the object that is being modulated).
Regarding claim 3, Furman discloses wherein the feedback element varies as a linear function of the strength of the correlation (para. 55, 53; wherein the shape of the object is adjusted at a set frequency corresponding to the set time scales).
Regarding claim 4, Furman discloses wherein the feedback element varies as a non- linear function of the strength of the correlation )para. 55-56; wherein the feature modulation is non-linear and includes pauses), and wherein the non-linear function is selected from a sigmoid function, a Rectified Linear Unit (RELU) function or a hyperbolic tangent function (para. 55-56).
Regarding claim 5, Furman discloses wherein the recognizable shape is selected from a reticule, target mark (see square in para. 77 and fig. 8), or cross-hair.
Regarding claim 6, Furman discloses wherein the characteristic modulation comprises a pseudo-random temporal pattern (para. 77; wherein a dot transforms into a tesseract) to reduce temporal overlap between patterns associated with different objects of the plurality of objects (para. 77, 44).
Regarding claim 7, Furman discloses wherein the transition from the orderless distribution to the ordered distribution comprises step-wise changes (para. 77 and fig. 8B; wherein the a dot transforms into a tesseract).
Claims 8-14 are rejected for the same reasons stated for claims 1-7, respectively. See above rejections.
Claims 15- 20 are rejected for the same reasons stated for claims 1-6, respectively. See above rejections.
Conclusion
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/ROBIN J MISHLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628
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