FINALSTEP AI

Richard Baker - U.S. Patent No. 5,486,001 - Personalized Instructional Aid
Enabling Computers to Become More Interactive on the Computer-to-Human Side
Historical Reference Archive
A human hand and a robotic hand meeting through a digital interface

THE COMPUTER-TO-HUMAN CONNECTION

A historical journey toward computers that sense, evaluate and respond personally to people.

FINALSTEP AI Historical Reference Archive

FINALSTEP AI is a historical reference archive documenting the conception, development and evolution of adaptive personalised instructional technology.

The archive preserves the historical record surrounding the development of technology designed to enable a computer to participate directly in the instructional process by observing human performance, comparing that performance with stored knowledge, evaluating the differences and providing personalised audio-visual instructional feedback.

The principal Version 1.0 narrative is organised into nineteen sections. Each section combines historical explanation with separately identified documentary evidence so readers can examine the underlying records directly.

The Historical Journey

The story begins with the conception of the instructional system in 1990 and follows its development through early patent applications, technical investigation, commercial outreach, academic research, later United States patent work, advances in communications and computing, Microsoft and USPTO records, Kinect-era technology, commercial products and the subsequent litigation history.

FINALSTEP brings these materials together so that the development of the technology can be examined as a continuous historical record rather than as isolated documents or events.

How the Archive Is Organised

Historical Narrative - Sections 1-19

The nineteen-section sequence is the principal reading path through FINALSTEP. It begins with the original vision and development of the personalised instructional concept, follows the patent and technology history, and continues through commercial implementation and the formal infringement contentions.

The selected documentary evidence for Sections 1 through 19 is linked directly from the relevant pages and is kept separate from explanatory commentary.

Documentary Evidence and Reference Material

The archive also preserves patents, correspondence, technical material, commercial records, litigation documents, videos and other surviving evidence. Supporting reference libraries provide additional ways to examine the selected public archive material by subject, document type, company, technology, person and court record.

Sections 1-19

Readers may follow the sequence from beginning to end or open any section directly. The original evidence linked within each page should be read together with the accompanying historical context.

Section 1 The Beginning: Original Vision (1990) Section 2 From Observation to Adaptive Personalised Instruction Section 3 From Historical Framework to the First Patent Application Section 4 The Original Patent Record Section 5 Documentary Evidence and Archive Section 6 Original Conception and Patent Evidence Section 7 Early Development, Contacts, Presentations and Prototype Work Section 8 U.S. Continuation-In-Part and Expanded Architecture Section 9 Enabling Technologies and Remote Computing Section 10 Attempts to Obtain Legal Representation Section 11 Microsoft Gesture Coach and USPTO Prosecution Record Section 12 Notice and Related Documentary Record Section 13 Demonstrative Evidence and Technology Demonstrations Section 14 Commercial Success and Market Impact Section 15 Estoppel, Doctrine of Equivalents and After-Arising Technology Section 16 Microsoft Marketing and Industry Adoption Section 17 Kinect Camera and Depth-Sensing Technology Section 18 Defendant Products and Commercial Implementations Section 19 Plaintiff's Infringement Contentions - February 8, 2016

Evidence, Commentary and Legal Outcome

FINALSTEP distinguishes between original historical evidence, archive commentary, personal interpretation and the legal positions advanced in the litigation.

Patent documents, correspondence, technical records, product demonstrations, market records and court filings are preserved as documentary sources. Commentary is provided to explain chronology and context, but the original documents remain available so readers can examine the record for themselves.

Where Richard Baker's interpretation or litigation position is discussed, it is identified as such. Formal court records remain the source for the legal outcome of the dispute.

Supporting Reference Libraries

The documentary archive is supported by a series of reference libraries designed to allow researchers and readers to examine the historical material from different perspectives.

These supporting areas provide additional ways to examine the selected Version 1.0 public archive material.

A Historical Reference

FINALSTEP is intended to preserve the historical record and make the surviving documentation accessible for future examination.

The purpose is not simply to tell a story, but to preserve the documents, chronology and technological history from which that story can be understood.

Begin the Archive

The principal historical sequence begins with Section 1 - The Beginning: Original Vision (1990).

Begin with Section 1
FINALSTEP AI Historical Reference Archive
Version 1.0 - Sections 1-19 Complete and Evidence-Linked
Page updated: 14 September 2026