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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Historical Reference Archive

Section 6 - Original Conception and Patent Evidence

Evidence 001 - The Original Conception

Circa 1990

Document Information

Document Type: Historical Evidence

Date: Circa 1990

Source: Richard John Baker

Summary

This evidence records the earliest known conception of what would later develop into the adaptive personalised instructional architecture described throughout this Historical Reference Archive.

Although the implementation technology available at the time was limited, the central objective was already clearly established:

To enable a machine to observe a person's current performance, compare that performance against stored expert knowledge, evaluate the differences, and provide personalised audio-visual guidance to improve learning.

This concept preceded many of the technologies that would later make practical implementation possible.

Historical Significance

This document is significant because it establishes the earliest known point at which the complete instructional concept had been formulated.

In the original conception, Baker envisaged cameras and video technology as the practical means of capturing information representing a person's movement.

As the system was developed and limitations associated with camera-based motion tracking became apparent, Baker later recognised that other sensing technologies, including MEMS devices, could also provide the movement information required by the instructional system.

Baker's historical position was that these developments changed the means by which movement information could be obtained, rather than the underlying instructional process of obtaining current-performance information, comparing and evaluating it against stored knowledge, and providing personalised audio-visual guidance.

Relationship to the Archive

This evidence forms the foundation upon which the remainder of the Historical Reference Archive is built.

Many of the later documents - including patent applications, prosecution history, correspondence, technical publications, product analyses, and legal proceedings - can be understood as subsequent chapters in the development of this original concept.

Archive Commentary

The significance of this evidence lies not in the maturity of the available technology, but in the conception of the instructional architecture itself.

As readers progress through the documentary record, they can examine Baker's historical position that, while implementation technologies changed dramatically over time, the underlying instructional process remained recognisable.

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Historical Reference Archive

Evidence 002 - The Australian Patent Application

1992

Document Information

Document Type: Patent Application

Date: 1992

Source: Original Australian Patent Application
Richard John Baker

Purpose

This document forms part of the Australian patent record that followed the 1991 provisional application.

It records the invention as it existed at the time of filing and establishes an official historical record of the concepts, system architecture, and instructional methodology being proposed.

Unlike later commentary, this document captures the invention before subsequent technological developments occurred.

Historical Background

At the time this application was prepared, many technologies commonly associated with adaptive instructional systems had not yet become commercially available.

There were no smartphones.

Consumer Internet access was extremely limited.

Cloud computing did not exist.

Artificial intelligence was not available for consumer instructional systems.

Affordable digital cameras, depth cameras, MEMS motion sensing, wearable computing, and modern graphics processors were still years away from practical implementation.

Accordingly, the application describes the process using the technology available at that time while preserving the broader instructional architecture.

Historical Significance

This application is historically significant because it demonstrates that the central invention was directed toward an adaptive instructional process rather than any specific item of hardware.

The application describes an instructional system capable of:

  • observing current performance;
  • comparing current performance with stored expert knowledge;
  • evaluating differences;
  • determining appropriate instructional responses; and
  • providing personalised audio-visual guidance to the learner.

Subsequent technological advances would later provide new methods for implementing these same instructional functions.

Archive Commentary

This patent application continued the transition from concept to documented invention following the 1991 provisional filing.

It forms part of the early official patent record describing the adaptive personalised instructional architecture that is central to this Historical Reference Archive.

The documents that follow demonstrate how this original disclosure progressed through patent examination, later technological developments, and subsequent historical events.

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Historical Reference Archive

Evidence 003 - The Original Patent Specification

1992

Document Information

Document Type: Patent Specification

Date: 1992

Source: Original Australian Patent Specification
Richard John Baker

Purpose

The patent specification is the primary technical document describing the invention.

It explains the problem being addressed, outlines the operation of the system, describes representative embodiments, and provides the technical foundation upon which the patent claims were based.

Unlike the claims, which define the legal scope of protection sought, the specification explains how the invention was intended to operate.

Historical Context

The specification was written during a period when many enabling technologies had yet to emerge.

Consequently, the invention was described using the engineering knowledge and practical implementation methods available at the time.

Despite those technological limitations, the specification disclosed an instructional process capable of observing a learner, comparing current performance with stored knowledge, evaluating that performance, and delivering personalised instructional feedback.

The specification should be read in its historical context, including the camera/video approach then used to describe the capture of current performance and the broader instructional functions disclosed around that implementation.

Historical Significance

The specification demonstrates that the invention was centred upon an adaptive instructional methodology rather than a particular hardware configuration.

It described a system in which the computer became an active participant in the instructional process by:

  • receiving information describing current performance;
  • accessing stored instructional knowledge;
  • comparing current performance against a desired performance;
  • evaluating differences;
  • determining appropriate instructional guidance; and
  • communicating personalised audio-visual feedback to the learner.

In Baker's historical analysis, this functional architecture remained relevant as new technologies later emerged.

Archive Commentary

The original specification forms one of the most important documents within this Historical Reference Archive.

It provides the earliest comprehensive technical explanation of the invention and establishes the framework against which many later documents, technologies, and historical developments can be understood.

For this reason, the specification should be read not only as a patent document, but also as a historical record describing the original conception of adaptive personalised instructional technology.

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Historical Reference Archive

Evidence 004 - The Original Patent Drawings

1992

Document Information

Document Type: Patent Drawings

Date: 1992

Source: Original Australian Patent Application
Richard John Baker

Purpose

The patent drawings accompanied the original specification to illustrate representative embodiments of the invention.

While the written specification explains the operation of the system, the drawings provide a visual representation of the components, information flow, and interaction between the learner and the instructional system.

Together, the drawings and specification form a single technical disclosure.

Historical Context

Patent drawings are not intended to be engineering blueprints or commercial product designs.

Their purpose is to assist readers, patent examiners, and future researchers in understanding the inventive concepts described within the specification.

The drawings reproduced in this archive reflect the technology available at the time of filing and should therefore be interpreted within that historical context.

Many technologies familiar today had not yet become practical or commercially available.

Consequently, the drawings illustrate the instructional process rather than any particular future implementation.

Historical Significance

The original drawings demonstrate that the invention was conceived as an integrated instructional system rather than a collection of independent electronic devices.

They visually depict the interaction between:

  • the learner;
  • the sensing or input system;
  • the computer;
  • stored instructional knowledge;
  • system evaluation;
  • personalised instructional feedback.

In Baker's historical analysis, although the appearance of later hardware changed dramatically over subsequent decades, the functional relationships illustrated within these drawings remained recognisable in the adaptive personalised instructional architecture discussed throughout this Historical Reference Archive.

Archive Commentary

Historical patent drawings often become increasingly valuable with the passage of time.

While created to support patent examination, they also provide an enduring visual record of how the inventor originally communicated the invention.

Viewed alongside the specification, they help readers understand the camera-based implementation described in the early record and provide a point of reference for the later sensing and computing developments discussed elsewhere in the archive.

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Historical Reference Archive

Evidence 005 - The Original Patent Claims

1992

Document Information

Document Type: Patent Claims

Date: 1992

Source: Original Australian Patent Application - Richard John Baker

Purpose

The patent claims define the invention for which legal protection was sought.

While the specification explains the invention in detail, the claims identify the essential combination of functional elements that distinguish the invention from the prior art.

Accordingly, the claims should always be read together with the specification rather than in isolation.

Historical Context

The claims were drafted using the terminology and engineering knowledge available at the time of filing.

They therefore reflect the technological environment of the early 1990s, before the widespread availability of broadband communications, smartphones, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, depth cameras, wearable sensing systems, and modern machine vision.

The claims record the form in which legal protection was sought at the time; their legal scope is a separate question to be considered from the claim language, specification, prosecution history and later court record.

Historical Significance

The original claims demonstrate that the invention centred upon a functional architecture capable of:

  • observing a learner's current performance;
  • comparing that performance with stored knowledge;
  • evaluating differences between actual and desired performance;
  • determining appropriate instructional guidance; and
  • communicating personalised audio-visual feedback.

These functions identify the functional combination Baker regarded as central to the invention; the legal scope of the claims is not determined by this historical summary.

Relationship to the Archive

The claims became the focal point of the patent examination process and provide the foundation for understanding the prosecution history presented later within this archive.

Many subsequent documents - including examination reports, office actions, amendments, correspondence, legal submissions, and technical analyses - refer directly or indirectly to the scope and interpretation of these claims.

Archive Commentary

The patent claims represent one of the most important historical documents within this archive because they define the invention as it was formally presented during the patent process.

When read together with the original specification and drawings, they provide a comprehensive understanding of the inventive concept before later technological advances transformed the practical methods by which adaptive personalised instructional systems could be implemented.

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Evidence 006 - Patent Examination Commences

1992-1993

Document Information

Document Type: Patent Examination Record

Date: 1992-1993

Source: Australian Patent Office

Purpose

Following the filing of the patent application, the invention entered the formal examination process conducted by the Australian Patent Office.

The resulting records show the issues considered by the examiner, the responses made during prosecution, and the application's progress towards grant.

Historical Significance

Created during prosecution, these documents provide direct evidence of:

  • the issues considered by the examiner;
  • the prior art available during examination;
  • the interpretation of the invention at that time; and
  • the progression of the application toward grant.

Relationship to the Archive

The examination documents that follow allow readers to trace the official prosecution history from the initial examination through to the eventual outcome.

These records later became important reference material when comparing subsequent technological developments, later patent filings, and legal proceedings discussed elsewhere in this Historical Reference Archive.

Archive Commentary

The patent examination record represents the beginning of the official dialogue between the inventor and the patent office.

The following pages present the prosecution documents in chronological sequence.

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Status: LOCKED - Version 1.0 (subject only to factual or typographical corrections).

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Evidence 007 - The Patent File History

1992-1995

Document Information

Document Type: Patent File History

Date: 1992-1995

Source: Australian Patent Office File History

Purpose

The patent file history (sometimes referred to as the prosecution history or file wrapper) records the official progression of the patent application from filing through examination to its eventual outcome.

It preserves the official correspondence, examination reports, applicant responses, amendments and decisions generated during that process.

Historical Significance

The file history captures the contemporary examination record rather than a later recollection. It provides evidence of:

  • how the invention was assessed;
  • what prior art was considered;
  • how the claims were interpreted;
  • what issues arose during examination; and
  • how the application ultimately proceeded to grant.

Relationship to the Archive

The patent file history forms the backbone of the documentary record that follows.

Subsequent evidence pages reproduce individual prosecution documents in chronological order, allowing readers to examine the original material directly before considering any accompanying historical commentary.

Archive Commentary

The original prosecution documents should be examined chronologically because together they record the application's progress from filing through examination.

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Status: LOCKED - Version 1.0 (subject only to factual or typographical corrections).
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