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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by HEGYI (US 2022/0038675).
Regarding claim 1, HEGYI discloses a head-mounted display device (HMD) comprising:
a display comprising a left see-through display and a right see-through display (see paragraph 0164 the processor receive information in the form of left and right images from the stereo camera pair; the processor adjust focus setting of one or both eye pieces of HMD 230; see paragraph 0166 user’s left and right eyes 301a, b look into corresponding near-eye displays/eyepieces 331a,b of the head mounted display);
a left digital camera and a right digital camera, separated by a predefined fixed separation and having common predefined angular fields of view (AFOVs), and respectively having a left image sensor and a right image sensor (see figure 2 and paragraph 0164 stereo camera pair 221; left and right images from stereo camera pair; see figure 4 and paragraph 0167, orientations and angular fields of view of a stereo camera pair; distance sensor having an optical axis that nominally bisects the angle between optical axis of the stereo camera pair; see also paragraphs 0010, 0032 and figures 1 and 7a), wherein:
the left digital camera and the right digital camera are configured to be disposed on a plane substantially parallel to a coronal plane of a head of a user wearing the HMD, and configured to be positioned symmetrically with respect to a longitudinal plane of the head of the user wearing the HMD (see figure 7A and paragraph 0192 camera pair 720 and user wearing the device), and
the left digital camera is configured to capture images of a planar field of view (FOV) with a first region of the left image sensor, and the right digital camera is configured to capture images of the planar FOV with a second region of the right image sensor, the planar FOV being formed by the AFOVs intersecting an imaged plane substantially parallel to the coronal plane (see figure 4 and paragraph 0167, orientations and angular fields of view of a stereo camera pair; distance sensor having an optical axis that nominally bisects the angle between optical axis of the stereo camera pair; see paragraph 0168 portion of fields of view 402a, b of each camera for depiction on each display; see paragraph 0164 left and right eye images; see paragraph 0172 planar object detected by distance sensor); and at least one processor configured to:
obtain a distance from the HMD to the planar FOV (see paragraph 0164 receive focus distance information; see paragraph 0174 distance measurement acquired; see also paragraph 0169);
determine bounds of the planar FOV based at least partially on the distance from the HMD to the planar FOV (see paragraph 0174 coordinate system defined by position and orientation of the distance sensor represented by frustum; see also paragraph 0176);
horizontally shift the first region of the left image sensor and the second region of the right image sensor by a common shift, so that respective shifted left and shifted right images generated by the shifted first region and shifted second region are substantially identical and comprise respective shifted portions of the planar FOV, and present the shifted left image on the left see-through display and the shifted right image on the right see-through display (see paragraph 0164 the processor is used to perform a transformation of the left and right images based on the camera calibration information and distance measurements, to make the images appear to the user in a way that when displayed, thy cause the eyes to converge to a nominal or actual working distance; the processor adjusts a focus setting of one or both cameras of the stereo camera; the processor image stabilization; see paragraph 0174 adjustable field of view; see also paragraphs 0167-0168 and 0179).
Regarding claim 2, HEGYI discloses the shifted first region corresponds to a first image AFOV and the shifted second region corresponds to a second image AFOV, and wherein sizes of the first image AFOV and the second image AFOV are smaller than a size of the common predefined AFOVs (see paragraphs 0166-0168).
Regarding claim 3, HEGYI discloses the horizontal shift of the first region of the left image sensor and the second region of the right image sensor is such that an intersection line of a horizontal first image AFOV with the planar FOV is identical to an intersection line of a horizontal second image AFOV with the planar FOV, wherein the horizontal first image AFOV is a horizontal portion of the first image AFOV and the horizontal second image AFOV is a horizontal portion of the second image AFOV (see paragraphs 0168 and 0171-0172).
Regarding claim 4, HEGYI discloses at least one processor is further configured to magnify the shifted first image and the shifted second image by an input ratio and present magnified shifted first and second images on the left and right sec-through displays, respectively (see paragraphs 0166, 0187-0188).
Regarding claim 5, HEGYI discloses the at least one processor is further configured to cause at least one of visibility or clarity of reality through the left and right see-through displays to be reduced when the magnified shifted first and second images are presented (see paragraphs 0033, 0164 and 0166).
Regarding claim 6, HEGYI discloses one or more removably couplable neutral density filters configured to reduce transmission of environmental light through the left and right see-through displays when coupled thereto (see paragraphs 0174, 0181, 0183 and 0185).
Regarding claim 7, HEGYI discloses the at least one processor is configured to determine the common shift based at least partially on the distance from the HMD to the planar FOV (see paragraphs 0166-0168).
Regarding claim 8, HEGYI discloses the left and right digital cameras are positioned in a parallel arrangement, such that an optical axis of the left digital camera and an optical axis of the right digital camera are configured to be parallel to a longitudinal plane of the head of the user (see figure 1, 7A-7C and paragraphs 0210 and 0216).
Regarding claim 9, HEGYI discloses the left and right digital cameras are positioned in a toe-in arrangement, such that an optical axis of the left digital camera intersects an optical axis of the right digital camera (see figure 7A-7C and paragraph 0033).
Regarding claim 10, HEGYI discloses the at least one processor is configured to determine the common shift based at least partially on the distance from the HMD to the planar FOV and a cross-ratio function initialized by analyzing a target at multiple positions each a different distance from the left and right digital cameras (see paragraphs 0166-0167 and 0179).
Regarding claim 11, HEGYI discloses the at least one processor is configured to obtain the distance from the HMD to the planar FOV by at least one of: analyzing disparity between images from the left digital camera and the right digital camera, or computing the distance based on a focus of the left digital camera or the right digital camera (see paragraphs 0034, 0164 and 0166).
Regarding claim 12, HEGYI discloses the at least one processor is configured to obtain the distance from the HMD to the planar FOV by analyzing one or more images of at least one optical marker located in or adjacent to the planar FOV (see paragraphs 0166, 0172-0176).
Regarding claim 13, HEGYI discloses the at least one processor is configured to obtain the distance from the HMD to the planar FOV by, based on signals provided by one or more eye trackers, comparing gaze angles of left and right eyes of the user to find a distance at which the eyes converge (see paragraphs 0166, 0173 and 0186).
Regarding claim 14, HEGYI discloses a distance sensor for measuring the distance from the HMD to the planar FOV, wherein the distance sensor comprises a camera configured to capture images of at least one optical marker (see paragraphs 0164-0166).
Regarding claim 15, HEGYI discloses a distance sensor for measuring the distance from the HMD to the planar FOV, wherein the distance sensor comprises a depth sensor configured to illuminate the planar FOV with a pattern of structured light and analyze an image of the pattern on the planar FOV (see paragraphs 0170 and 0178).
Regarding claim 16, HEGYI discloses the common shift rotates the AFOV of the left digital camera by a first angular rotation, and the AFOV of the right digital camera by a second angular rotation equal numerically and opposite in direction to the first angular rotation (see paragraphs 0173, 0192 and 0195).
Regarding claim 17, HEGYI discloses the AFOV of the left digital camera and of the right digital camera after the first and the second angular rotations is numerically equal to the AFOV of the left digital camera and of the right digital camera before the angular rotations (see paragraphs 0192, 0195, 0197 and 0199).
Regarding claim 18, HEGYI discloses the planar FOV comprises a left planar FOV formed in response to the AFOV of the left digital camera intersecting the imaged plane and a right planar FOV formed in response to the AFOV of the right digital camera intersecting the imaged plane, and wherein a left metric defining a length of the left planar FOV is numerically equal to a right metric defining a length of the right planar FOV (see paragraphs 0166, 0168, 0171 and 0186).
Regarding claim 19, HEGYI discloses a head mounted display device (HMD) comprising:
a display comprising a first display and a second display (see paragraph 0164 the processor receive information in the form of left and right images from the stereo camera pair; the processor adjust focus setting of one or both eye pieces of HMD 230; see paragraph 0166 user’s left and right eyes 301a, b look into corresponding near-eye displays/eyepieces 331a,b of the head mounted display);
a first and a second digital cameras, respectively comprising a first image sensor and a second image sensor, and respectively having a first and a second predetermined angular fields of view (AFOVs), wherein the first and second digital cameras are being disposed in a predetermined fixed setup on a plane substantially parallel to a frontal plane of a head of a user wearing the HMD, the first and second digital cameras separated by a predetermined fixed separation defining one of the first or second digital cameras as a left camera and the other as a right camera with respect to the user (see figure 2 and paragraph 0164 stereo camera pair 221; left and right images from stereo camera pair; see figure 4 and paragraph 0167, orientations and angular fields of view of a stereo camera pair; distance sensor having an optical axis that nominally bisects the angle between optical axis of the stereo camera pair; see figures 1 and 7A and paragraph 0192 camera pair 720 and user wearing the device; see also paragraphs 0010, 0032); and
at least one processor configured to:
generate a first image and a second image from a first image region of the first image sensor and from a second image region of the second image sensor, respectively (see figure 4 and paragraph 0167, orientations and angular fields of view of a stereo camera pair; distance sensor having an optical axis that nominally bisects the angle between optical axis of the stereo camera pair; see paragraph 0168 portion of fields of view 402a, b of each camera for depiction on each display; see paragraph 0164 left and right eye images; see paragraph 0172 planar object detected by distance sensor), wherein:
the first image region corresponds to a first image AFOV, and the second image region corresponds to a second image AFOV, sizes of the first image AFOV and the second image AFOV are equal to a predefined image AFOV size smaller than a size of each of the first and second AFOVs, and the first image AFOV and the second image AFOV are symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal plane of the head of the user (see figure 1, paragraph 0125 obtaining measurement of distance; see paragraphs 0167-0168 orientations and angular fields of view of a stereo camera pair of a head-mounted digital loupe system, with viewpoint frustum 411 of a distance sensor having an optical axis 413 that nominally bisects the angle between optical axes 403a,b of the stereo camera pair; The camera frustums 401a,b of the stereo pair may each have a field of view 402a,b that is larger than a field of view of near-eye displays 331a,b. Nominally, near-eye displays 331a,b depict a magnified view compared to what would be seen by the unaided eye);
obtain a distance between the HMD and a Region of Interest (ROI) plane, wherein the ROI plane is substantially parallel to the frontal plane (see paragraph 0164 receive focus distance information; see paragraph 0174 distance measurement acquired; see also paragraphs 0169, 0172 and 0176);
change at least one of the first image region of the first image sensor or the second image region of the second image sensor based on the obtained distance, so that for a first image and a second image generated based on the change from the first and second image regions, respectively, a portion of the ROI plane imaged by the first image is substantially identical to a portion of the ROI plane imaged by the second image (see paragraph 0164 the processor is used to perform a transformation of the left and right images based on the camera calibration information and distance measurements, to make the images appear to the user in a way that when displayed, thy cause the eyes to converge to a nominal or actual working distance; the processor adjusts a focus setting of one or both cameras of the stereo camera; the processor image stabilization; see paragraph 0174 adjustable field of view; see also paragraphs 0167-0168 and 0179); and
simultaneously display the first image on the first display and the second image on the second display (see paragraphs 0166-0168, 0179 and figure 1).
Regarding claim 20, HEGYI discloses the method, comprising using a head-mounted display device to perform a diagnostic procedure or a surgical intervention on a spine, cranium, jaw, or orthopedic joint (see paragraphs 0029, 0162, 0165, 0185, 0200 and 0216). See also the rejection of claim 1 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cole et al. (US Pat. No. 11,381,802) discloses the placement of the left and right sensors is shifted in the left and right cameras corresponding to the lens so that the FOV of the lens which captures the adjacent camera or lens will particularly or fully avoid the sensor of the camera.
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/HELEN SHIBRU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484 July 7, 2026
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