DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Title
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: MOTION MAPPING FOR CONTINUOUS GESTURES USING MULTIPLE GESTURE CENTROID VECTORS.
Abstract
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The content of a patent abstract should be such as to enable the reader thereof, regardless of his or her degree of familiarity with patent documents, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection of the abstract the nature and gist of the technical disclosure and that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The present application claim set has been fundamentally changed from the patent claim set, e.g., the core features such as “user-centric spherical coordinate system” and “arc length of the input motion”, etc. are no longer recited. Thus, abstract is not commensurate for the present application claim set. Correction is required. See MPEP §608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claims 2-3 are objected to because of the following informalities: they recite “first input motion vector (112, FIG. 8D, “first gesture centroid vector 824”)”, “second input motion vector (112, FIG. 8D, second gesture centroid vector 826)” and “total input motion vector (FIG. 8D, “final input motion vector 852”)”, whereas the “total input motion vector” comprises the “first input motion vector” and the “second “input motion vector”. The entire specification and the drawings of the present application are silent regarding them.
Examiner interprets the “first input motion vector” as “first gesture centroid vector 824”, the “second input motion vector” as “second gesture centroid vector 826” and the “total input motion vector as “final input motion vector 852”, for the purpose of following claim rejections. Appropriate corrections are required.
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 they do not limit the computer readable medium to non-transitory tangible media. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer readable medium (also called machine readable medium and other such variations) typically covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media, particularly when the specification is silent. See MPEP 2111.01. When the broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim covers a signal per se, the claim must be rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as covering non-statutory subject matter. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1356-57 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (transitory embodiments are not directed to statutory subject matter) and Interim Examination Instructions for Evaluating Subject Matter Eligibility Under 35 U.S.C. § 101, Aug. 24, 2009; p. 2. 1351 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. 212 (2010). The computer readable medium recited in claim *** encompasses a transitory, propagating signal, which is not a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Nuijten, 500 F.3d at 1357. The claim “covers material not found in any of the four statutory categories [and thus] falls outside the plainly expressed scope of § 101.” Id. at 1354. As to depending claims 16-20, they are also rejected because they do not overcome the deficiencies of their parent claim.
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, 8-10, 12-13, 15-17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US 2016/0266649 A1).
As to claim 1, Wang discloses a method (Wang, FIGS. 3-6, [0280], “method 600”) comprising:
in response to detecting an input action by a hand (Wang, FIGS. 3-6, [0184], e.g., “the gesture tracking module 508 can determine the known terminal point 414 as the coordinates of the hand of the user 302 used to make the gesture 304”), determining a change in position traveled by the hand during the input action (Wang, FIGS. 3-6, [0177], e.g., “the gesture tracking module 508 can identify both the first sensor reading 306 and the second sensor reading 308 when the user location 326 is in the overlapping range profile 332”), wherein the change in position comprises a distance and direction (Wang, FIGS. 3-6, [0177], “vector” comprises a distance and direction);
determining a first portion of the change in position of the hand attributable to rotation around a first joint (Wang, FIG. 6, [0281], “identify a first sensor reading 602”; FIGS. 3-6, [0112], “first vector 360 can be a vector calculated from the elbow position 312 and the hand position 314 of the user 302 captured by the first sensor reading 306”; [0089], “the elbow position 312 can be the spatial position or coordinate of an elbow joint of the user 302 as the user 302 undertakes the gesture 304”; Examiner interprets “elbow position 312”, i.e., “elbow joint” as the 1st joint);
determining a second portion of the change in position of the hand attributable to rotation around a second joint (Wang, FIG. 6, [0281], “identify a second sensor reading 604”; FIGS. 3-6, [0115], “second vector 362 can be a vector calculated from the hand position 314 and the fingertip position 316 of the user 302 captured by the second sensor reading 308”; [0090], “hand position 314 can be the spatial position or coordinate of a palm, a wrist, or an opisthenar of the user 302 as the user 302 undertakes the gesture 304”, Examiner interprets “hand position 314”, i.e., “wrist”, as the 2nd joint);
determining an input motion based on the first portion, the second portion, and the change in position traveled by the hand (Wang, FIG. 6, [0282], “calculate a blended position indicator 606”; FIGS. 3-6, [0259], “blending module 520 can calculate the blended position indicator 350 for combining multiple instances of the gesture 304 captured by the first sensor 310, the second sensor 318, or a combination thereof in order to estimate the direction of the gesture 304”); and
translating the input motion to a movement of a user input component on a user interface (Wang, FIG. 6, [0282], “communicate the blended position indicator by generating a cursor 608”; FIG. 3, [0266], “the cursor module 524 can generate the cursor 348 at the blended position indicator 350 for the user 302 to control or manipulate a graphic or user interface depicted on a display interface such as the first display interface 230, the second display interface 240, or a combination thereof”).
As to claim 2, Wang discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first portion (Wang, FIG. 6, [0281], “first sensor reading 602”) comprises a first input motion vector (Wang, FIGS. 3-6, [0112], “first vector 360), and the second portion (Wang, FIG. 6, [0281], “second sensor reading 604”) comprises a second input motion vector (Wang, FIGS. 3-6, [0115], “second vector 362).
As to claim 3, Wang discloses the method of claim 2, wherein determining the input motion comprises:
determining a total input motion vector (Wang, FIG. 6, [0286], “The block 616 can also include calculating the blended position indicator 350 based on”) comprising the first input motion vector (Wang, FIG. 6, [0286], “first vector 360”) and the second input motion vector (Wang, FIG. 6, [0286], “second vector 362”); and
scaling the change in position traveled by the hand by the total input motion vector (Wang, FIG. 3, [0137], e.g., “For example, the calibration module 502 can calculate the transformation matrix 320 for transforming the coordinates of the hand position 314 of FIG. 3, the elbow position 312 of FIG. 3, the fingertip position 316 of FIG. 3, or a combination thereof to their corresponding coordinates in the uniform coordinate system 324”).
As to claim 5, Wang discloses the method of claim 1,wherein translating the input motion to a movement of a user input component comprises:
mapping the input motion to a 2D plane of the user interface (Wang, e.g., FIG. 3, [0109], “the first display interface 230 can display a cursor 348 for indicating a position of a blended position indicator 350”); and
presenting a movement of a user input component on the user interface in accordance with the mapping (Wang, e.g., FIG. 3, [0269], “the physical transformation of displaying the cursor 348 at the blended position indicator 350 results in movement in the physical world, such as people using the electronic system 100 to control display interfaces remotely”).
As to claim 6, Wang discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the input motion (Wang, FIGS. 3-6, [0259], “blended position indicator 350” in 2D) differs from the change in position traveled by the hand (Wang, see FIG. 3, hand motion in 3D).
As to claim 8, it differs from claim 1 only in that it is the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable code executable by one or more processors to perform the method of claim 1. It recites substantially the same limitations as in claim 1, and Wang discloses them. Please see claim 1 for detailed analysis.
As to claims 9-10 and 12-13, they recite substantially the same limitations as in claims 2-3 and 5-6, respectively, and Wang discloses them. Please see claims 2-3 and 5-6 for detailed analysis.
As to claim 15, it differs from claim 1 only in that it is the system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer readable media comprising computer readable code executable by the one or more processors to to perform the method of claim 1. It recites substantially the same limitations as in claim 1, and Wang discloses them. Please see claim 1 for detailed analysis.
As to claims 16-17 and 19, they recite substantially the same limitations as in claims 2-3 and 5, respectively, and Wang discloses them. Please see claims 2-3 and 5 for detailed analysis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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.
Claims 4, 7, 11, 14, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2016/0266649 A1) in view of Lacey (US 2021/0263593 A1).
As to claim 4, Wang teaches the method of claim 1, wherein each of the first joint (Wang, FIG. 3, [0089], “elbow position 312”, i.e., “elbow joint”) and the second joint (Wang, FIG. 3, [0090], “hand position 314”, i.e., “wrist”) are selected from a group consisting of a wrist (Wang, FIG. 3, [0090], “hand position 314”, i.e., “wrist”), an elbow (Wang, FIG. 3, [0089], “elbow position 312”, i.e., “elbow joint”).
Wang does not explicitly teach the group consisting of a wrist, an elbow and “a shoulder”.
However, Lacey teaches the concept of the group consisting of a wrist, an elbow and a shoulder (Lacey, FIGS. 7-8, [0160], “an interaction point 702C is registered to location a (as described in reference to FIG. 6C) and a proximal point 704C is registered to a location at the user's shoulder (labeled “S”)”; [0162], “an interaction point 802B is registered to key point It (as described in reference to FIG. 6B) and a proximal point 804B is registered to a location at the user's elbow (labeled “E”)”).
At the time of effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the “blended position indicator 350” taught by Wang to be further calculated by the “shoulder” as the “proximal point 704C” in addition to the elbow and the wrist, as taught by Lacey, in order to “provide methods for operating an augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), or mixed reality (MR) wearable system in which user hand gestures are used to interact within a virtual environment” (Lacey, [0004]).
As to claim 7, Lacey teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the input motion is determined from image data captured by a camera of a head mounted device (Lacey, FIG. 1, [0108], “the wearable system may include a wearable device 102 (e.g., a headset) that is worn by the user and includes at least one forward-facing camera 104 that includes a user's hand 106 within its field of view (FOV)”). Examiner renders the same motivation as in claim 4.
As to claim 11, it recites substantially the same limitations as in claim 4, and Wang in view of Lacey teaches them. Examiner renders the same motivation as in claim 4. Please see claim 4 for detailed analysis.
As to claim 14, it recites substantially the same limitations as in claim 7, and Lacey teaches them. Examiner renders the same motivation as in claim 4. Please see claim 7 for detailed analysis.
As to claim 18, it recites substantially the same limitations as in claim 4, and Wang in view of Lacey teaches them. Examiner renders the same motivation as in claim 4. Please see claim 4 for detailed analysis.
As to claim 20, it recites substantially the same limitations as in claim 7, and Lacey teaches them. Examiner renders the same motivation as in claim 4. Please see claim 7 for detailed analysis.
Conclusion
The prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Lin et al. (US 2015/0062010 A1) teaches the concept of “pointing-direction detecting device … analyzing hand-terminal region and the elbow or shoulder region from the image analyzing module to identify through calculation a hand-terminal position and elbow or shoulder position, obtaining a pointing-direction vector … and the target plane” (Abs.); and
Ravasz et al. (US 2021/0090332 A1) teaches the concept of “artificial reality systems … interpreting various bimanual (two-handed) gestures for interacting with objects” (Abs.);
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD J HONG whose telephone number is (571) 270-7765. The examiner can normally be reached on 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chanh Nguyen can be reached on (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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Jul. 10, 2026
/RICHARD J HONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2623
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