The gaming scene can be pretty toxic, especially in the competitive gaming space. Gamers have to deal with griefers and cheaters as well as everyone else's who are just out to ruin everyone's day.
Sony has filed a new patent aimed at combating toxicity in the gaming community. This new patent will moderate players’ emotions during gameplay sessions.
Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony's gaming arm, filed the patent for "Emotion Detection & Moderation based on Voice Inputs" on September 30, 2021, which was approved at the end of March.
According to the patent, Sony plans to create a system for identifying and controlling emotions based on voice inputs from the player. The system will analyze the emotional profile of players and applies a set of rules to modify communication based on their emotional states. The system will then modify messages sent by the player based on the emotional profile of the player receiving the message.
"An emotional state detected as being associated with a subset of the messages may trigger at least one of the moderation rules by corresponding to at least one of the emotional states specified by the user emotion profile," the patent reads. "A presentation of at least one of the messages in the subset being provided to the user device may be modified in accordance with the moderation action specified by the user emotion profile."
The emotional profile evolves with the player and gives punishment to gamers whose scores are less. However, the system does not remove or censor what a player says but modifies the message to diffuse the situation. The goal of the system is to convert angry messages into neutral ones while still retaining the essence of the message to prevent bullying in the gaming space that could have a negative effect on player mental health.
Fans have been baffled by this patent filing and it has been poorly received by gamers. Players believe that the technology removes autonomy within the gaming space. Gamers also note that previous attempts at this kind of censorship have failed with systems attempting to suppress words that are not at all harmful.
We are not sure how a system like this could modify the voice messages on the fly. Players could also find ways to work around the system if ever it gets made.
For now, the technology is only a patent. Sony has yet to announce that it's developing the technology for the PS5.
Speaking of Sony, a U.S. Senator wants to look into Sony and its "anti-competitive" practices regarding exclusivity deals. Finally, Sony has confirmed the PS Plus Extra and Premium games for April.
