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 Objections
Claim 14, are objected for not providing a correct dependency, it depends of cancelled clam 11.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/01/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4-5, 10, 19-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsuchida (US 20240163624 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Tsuchida (US 20240163624 A1) discloses creating an immersive acoustic environment from assembling collaborative audio events occurring at a first location space and a second location space, the method comprising:
A sound capture (Tsuchida, Fig. 2, item 112-1);
At least one pair of head phones (Tsuchida, Fig. 2, item 111-1);
An audio interface (Tsuchida, Fig. 20, item 505; ¶ [0218]);
At least one processor configured for audio processing (Tsuchida, Fig. 20, item 501; ¶ [0219]);
dividing the first location space into a plurality of zones in which audio signals can be generated (Tsuchida, Fig. 1, items 111-1, 111-2…);
obtaining a virtual loudspeaker construct of at least the first location space and/or another space, also divided into a plurality of zones, to provide a sonic signature of a desired space (Tsuchida, Figs. 6-8, ¶ [0068-0086], for each path of a pair of musicians on the stage of the virtual concert hall, a BRIR is generated from a HRIR database, wherein the HRIR is convoluted with a room impulse response); wherein the
virtual loudspeaker construct assigned to each zone is obtained by binaural acoustic measurement from at least two loudspeakers to the center of a respective zone (Tsuchida, ¶ [0097-0099], for the virtual loudspeaker construction of a BRIR from a HRIR and a room impulse response either taken from a measurement or an acoustic simulation room model);
sending over a communication network (Tsuchida, Fig. 1, items 111-1, 111-2, 111-3; ¶ [0037-0041], via a low-latency audio stream, an audio signal of one or more sound sources generated in the zones to the second location space and vice-versa (Tsuchida, Figs. 3 and 11-14, ¶ [0114] and ¶ [0140], network connection for data exchange of sound source);
upon receipt of the audio signal at the first location space and/or the second location space respectively, applying the virtual loudspeaker construct assigned to a respective zone as a real-time filter so that the sound source is perceived as located within that zone of the desired space when played back through head phones (Tsuchida, Figs. 4, 9-10, ¶ [0059-0062] and ¶ [0088-0095]).
Regarding claim 4, Tsuchida discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Tsuchida further discloses, wherein the step of obtaining the virtual loudspeaker construct comprises:
recording binaural acoustic measurements in the at least first location space; or one of making and retrieving a corresponding recording of another space (Tsuchida, ¶ [0190]).
Regarding claim 5, Tsuchida discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Tsuchida further discloses, wherein the received audio signal is combined with one or more audio signals obtained from local sound sources (Tsuchida, ¶ [0005]); and wherein
a diffuse field measurement is obtained and applied as an impulse response to the one or more audio signals obtained from local sound sources (Tsuchida, ¶ [0005] and ¶ [0076]: “The acoustic processing includes rendering … based on position information and convolution using a BRIR (Binaural Room impulse Response).”).
Regarding claim 19, Tsuchida discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Tsuchida further discloses, wherein creating the immersive acoustic environment comprises implementing collaborative musical performance between performers at both the first location space and the second location space (Tsuchida, Fig. 1, items 111-1, 111-2…).
Regarding claim 20, Tsuchida discloses all the limitations of claim 10.
Tsuchida further discloses, wherein obtaining the virtual loudspeaker construct comprises one of: recording binaural acoustic measurements in the at least first location space (Tsuchida, ¶ [0190]);
retrieving a corresponding recording of another space (Tsuchida, ¶ [0242]); and
making a corresponding recording of another space (Tsuchida, ¶ [0239]).
Regarding claim 21, Tsuchida discloses all the limitations of claim 10.
Tsuchida further discloses, wherein the system includes:
means for combining the received signal with one or more audio signals obtained from local sound sources (Tsuchida, Fig. 1, items 111-1, 111-2, 111-3, 111-4, ¶ {0005]), and
means for obtaining a diffuse field measurement is obtained, and means for applying the diffuse field measurement as an impulse response to the one or more audio signals obtained from local sound sources (Tsuchida, ¶ [0005] and ¶ [0076]: “The acoustic processing includes rendering … based on position information and convolution using a BRIR (Binaural Room impulse Response).”).
Regarding claim 23, Tsuchida discloses all the limitations of claim 21.
Tsuchida further discloses where each location includes a plurality of zones across which one or more distributed sound sources are distributed (Tsuchida, Fig. 6, shows a virtual ensemble of distributed virtual players) and
the speakers are within a headphone environment and the audio engine is arranged to create the impression that: different sound sources are located externally and different sound sources are displaced zonally from one another in the sound field (Tsuchida, ¶ [0080]: “left-ear HRIRs from sound sources to the left ear and right-ear HRIRs from the sound sources to the right ear are prepared in a database, the sound sources being disposed over a celestial sphere”).
Regarding claim 22, Tsuchida discloses an audio engine arranged to process audio signals generated from a plurality of different sound sources to generate an output for auralisation (Tsuchida, Fig. 1, items 111-1, 111-2…), wherein
the plurality of different sound sources are at least two separated locations and where each location includes one or more distributed sound sources (Tsuchida, Fig. 1, items 111-1, 111-2…), the audio engine including:
a real-time filter configured to manipulate binaural cues of interaural time and level differences to deliver a plurality of virtual loudspeaker constructs (Tsuchida, Fig. 9, ¶ [0059-0062], wherein
each virtual loudspeaker construct reflects a modelled sonic signature (instrument) of a particular zone at one of said two locations in which sound sources are distributed (Tsuchida, ¶ [0054]: “The positions of the players 1 to 4 on the virtual concert hall are set at, for example, positions corresponding to instruments played by the players 1 to 4”) and
the virtual loudspeaker construct is developed based on binaural acoustic measurement of at least two loudspeakers to the center of the particular zone (Tsushida, ¶ [0097-0099], for the virtual loudspeaker construction of a BRIR from a HRIR and a room impulse response either taken from a measurement or an acoustic simulation room model), and wherein
the audio engine is arranged to create a soundfield of an immersive virtual space in which the plurality of virtual loudspeaker constructs collectively create, for speakers, an impression that different sound sources are displaced zonally from one another in the soundfield (Tsuchida, Fig. 9, ¶ [0087-95]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRIEDRICH FAHNERT whose telephone number is (571)270-7797. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 am-4:00 pm.
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/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/FRIEDRICH FAHNERT/
Examiner
Art Unit 2692
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