Sony's Revolutionary AI: Transforming Gaming Accessibility for the Visually Impaired

Highlights

Sony is exploring the use of AI to make games more accessible to the visually impaired, adding to the existing efforts in the gaming industry.

The patent details a revolutionary "on-demand accessibility system" that employs modules to verbally depict scenes and offer feedback to the player via the DualSense controller. Sony is also contemplating integrating this system into forthcoming PlayStation games, hardware, as well as movies, TV shows, and music.

Sony is exploring the use of AI to improve accessibility for the visually impaired in gaming. In addition to their ongoing efforts to advance their technology, Sony has recently filed patents for various innovations including MMO server tech, a game aroma system, and a unique PlayStation controller. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have already made strides in bridging the gap between gaming and gamers with disabilities, with the Xbox adaptive controller receiving widespread acclaim. Sony aims to further enhance accessibility by developing games that are more easily understood by those with visual impairments.

According to a recent Sony patent, future games may incorporate an innovative "on-demand accessibility system" to audibly depict specific scenes for the visually impaired. This system can be activated through various modules that offer feedback on different aspects of the game, such as action description, scene depiction, color adjustment, graphical style, and acoustic effects. By combining the diverse feedback linked to the DualSense controller, the actions unfolding on the screen can be conveyed to the player through captioning. This novel system has the potential to provide visually impaired gamers with a more precise understanding of the unfolding events compared to relying solely on scene descriptions.

To ensure accurate descriptions, the PS5 system utilizes a neural network, a component system encoder-decoder, and memory. Sony gathers data from the DualSense, including player movement, frame changes, button presses, and audio cues played through the built-in speaker. According to the Sony patent, this new system could potentially be applied to movies, TV shows, and music as well. However, due to extensive considerations made by Sony in this patent, it may not be applicable to open-world games like Guerrilla Games' Horizon: Forbidden West or Kojima Productions' Death Stranding, given the vast amount of content involved.

While some modern games already have captioning, this on-demand accessibility system could benefit games that currently lack this feature. Although this Sony patent suggests that upcoming PlayStation games may become more accessible, it may take some time before the implementation process is complete. Training the neural network to provide accurate feedback to players is an integral part of this process, and it may require a significant amount of time. Considering PlayStation's focus on enhancing features for current and future platforms, it is possible that the hardware in the next console and controller will offer even more opportunities for accessibility.