Prior art

I will now search the USPTO database for the specified patent number 8777746 by examining its cited references to identify the most relevant prior art.

Here are the prior art patent citations for US Patent 8777746, along with their details and a preliminary analysis of potential anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

Prior Art Cited by US8777746B2

1. US20090143141A1

• Full Citation: US20090143141A1 - Intelligent Multiplayer Gaming System With Multi-Touch Display
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication Date: 2009-06-04; Priority Date: 2002-08-06
• Brief Description: This patent application describes an intelligent multiplayer gaming system that utilizes a multi-touch display. It involves receiving multiple touch inputs from one or more players on a shared multi-touch display surface, identifying the type of touch input (e.g., tap, hold, swipe), and generating gaming commands based on these inputs. The system also includes an artificial intelligence engine to interpret player input and manage game flow.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  • Claims 1, 7, 8: This reference potentially anticipates the core concept of receiving touch gesture inputs on a multi-touch display for gameplay (Claim 1), detecting and processing multiple touch inputs (Claim 7), and aggregating multiple touches (Claim 8). The abstract mentions "receiving multiple touch inputs from one or more players on a shared multi-touch display surface" and "identifying the type of touch input".
  • Claims 3, 9, 10, 11, 12: It also generally teaches different types of touch inputs like "tap, hold, swipe", which could encompass line or arc components (Claim 3) and actions like running or jumping (Claims 9-12), although specific mapping of these gestures to optimal/suboptimal actions and fidelity calculation is less explicit in the abstract.
  • Claims 16, 18, 19, 23, 24: The "intelligent multiplayer gaming system" and "artificial intelligence engine to interpret player input and manage game flow" could imply context-dependent interpretation of gestures and interaction with virtual objects, although not explicitly tied to fidelity calculation based on optimal gestures.

2. US20120133615A1

• Full Citation: US20120133615A1 - Actionable-object controller and data-entry attachment for touchscreen-based electronics
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication Date: 2012-05-31; Priority Date: 2010-03-18
• Brief Description: This patent application describes an accessory device that provides physical controls (buttons, joysticks, D-pads) which are optically invisible but detectable by a touchscreen. This allows a user to interact with a touchscreen device using tactile controls while the touchscreen still registers the inputs. The invention aims to improve tactile feedback and precision for gaming and data entry on touchscreens.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  • This reference focuses on a hardware attachment to improve touchscreen interaction rather than the software-based gesture fidelity calculation and intent encapsulation of US8777746B2. While it enables "gameplay" on a "mobile device" through "touch inputs," the method described in US8777746B2 (calculating fidelity to an optimal gesture in a reference gesture table) is not directly disclosed. Therefore, it is less likely to anticipate the specific method claims of US8777746B2, particularly Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 13-17, 27, and 28. It provides a different approach to enhancing touch interaction.

3. US8368662B2

• Full Citation: US8368662B2 - Actionable-object controller and data-entry attachment for touchscreen-based electronics
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication Date: 2013-02-05; Priority Date: 2010-03-18
• Brief Description: This is a granted patent that appears to be related to or a continuation of US20120133615A1, sharing the same title, assignee, and priority date. It describes an accessory device that provides physical, optically-invisible controls for touchscreen devices, enhancing tactile feedback for gaming and data entry.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Similar to US20120133615A1, this reference primarily addresses a hardware solution for touchscreen interaction. It does not disclose the method of calculating gesture fidelity against an optimal gesture from a reference table to determine successful or failed actions based on user intent, which is central to US8777746B2. Thus, it is less likely to anticipate the method claims of US8777746B2, particularly Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 13-17, 27, and 28.

4. US20130093702A1

• Full Citation: US20130093702A1 - Actionable-object controller and data-entry attachment for touchscreen-based electronics
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication Date: 2013-04-18; Priority Date: 2010-03-18
• Brief Description: This patent application is also part of the same patent family as US20120133615A1 and US8368662B2, disclosing the accessory device for touchscreen devices that provides physical, optically-invisible controls.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Similar to the other "Chris Argiro" patents, this reference focuses on a hardware attachment to enable traditional button/joystick input on a touchscreen, rather than the gesture recognition and fidelity-based intent encapsulation taught by US8777746B2. Therefore, it is unlikely to anticipate the specific method claims of US8777746B2, especially Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 13-17, 27, and 28.

Conclusion on Most Relevant Prior Art

Based on this analysis, US20090143141A1 (Intelligent Multiplayer Gaming System With Multi-Touch Display) appears to be the most relevant prior art. It directly addresses multi-touch input for gaming on touchscreen devices and discusses identifying different types of touch inputs and an AI engine for game flow. While it doesn't explicitly detail the "fidelity calculation to an optimal gesture in a reference gesture table" and "matching to optimal/suboptimal gestures" as precisely as US8777746B2, its broad teaching of intelligent interpretation of multi-touch gestures for gaming could potentially anticipate or render obvious some aspects of the fundamental concept of using touch gestures to control game characters.

The other three cited patents (US20120133615A1, US8368662B2, US20130093702A1) focus on a hardware attachment to a touchscreen, which is a different inventive concept from the software-based gesture interpretation and fidelity calculation described in US8777746B2. Therefore, they are less likely to directly anticipate the specific method claims of US8777746B2.