EA Wants Animated Personalised Gaming Coach To Help Players

Electronic Arts is working on an animated and personalised video game coach, which helps players improve their performance by watching how they play, analysing the in-game world, their actions, and even real-world events that might affect the gameplay, according to a recently published patent.

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"Electronic Arts Locations" | Source: Official EA Site

Rundown:

  • Electronic Arts has recently been granted a patent for a system that introduces a virtual coach designed to assist players in enhancing their gaming performance.
  • The virtual coach actively observes players’ actions, in-game progress, and even real-world events that might influence gameplay, offering personalised advice and insights.
  • The system identifies crucial moments in video games, known as “action events,” and generates advice based on player data, suggesting strategies, pointing out mistakes, or offering tips aligned with the player’s style.
  • The guidance is delivered through a character that speaks and exhibits animated features, closely resembling a human persona.
  • The system employs predefined rules to determine appropriate advice, drawing from a player’s performance data, in-game actions, and external factors, which results in a digital friend-like experience that guides players during gameplay.
  • Players have the option to customise the advice they receive and how it’s delivered, creating a more tailored and engaging interaction with the virtual coach.

Earlier today, we came across a recently published patent from Electronic Arts titled, “Animated and personalized coach for video games,” filed in December 2020 under the name of Electronic Arts Inc. The patent, published earlier this month, describes a system that creates an animated virtual coach for video games, which helps players improve their performance.

Imagine you’re playing a video game, and you’re stuck at a certain level or having trouble with a particular challenge. This virtual coach is like a friendly guide that watches how you play and analyses the in-game world, your actions, and even real-world events that might affect your gameplay.

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Exemplary system for communicating insights for video games, according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. | Source: Patent Public Search

“Various aspects of the subject technology relate to systems, methods, and machine-readable media for generating insights for video games. The method includes gathering information regarding a player for a plurality of video games, the information comprising at least one of in-world state data, player action data, player progression data, and/or real-world events relevant to each video game,” reads the abstract for the patent.

“The method also includes tracking events in at least one video game of the plurality of video games, the events comprising an action event or a standby event. The method also includes determining that an event of the tracked events is an action event.”

“The method also includes generating insights regarding the action event based on the information gathered regarding the player, the insights for improving the player’s performance in the video game. The method also includes relaying the insights to the player to improve the player’s performance in the video game.”

The coach pays attention to important moments in the video game, like when you’re taking action or waiting for something. It figures out when you’re actively doing something important (an “action event”). Based on all the information it gathers about you and the video game, it gives you advice on how to get better.

For example, it might suggest a better strategy, point out a mistake you made, or offer tips that match your playing style. This advice isn’t just text on the screen — it’s brought to life! The coach has a voice and a face, and it speaks to you like a real person. It turns the advice into spoken words and even animated expressions on its face.

This way, it feels like you’re getting personal guidance from a virtual friend. The system uses rules to figure out what advice to give, based on the information it has about you and the video game. It gathers data about how you’re doing, what you’re doing, and even what’s happening in the real world that could affect your gameplay.

Then, it creates helpful lines of dialogue for the coach to say. These lines are turned into spoken words and facial animations, and the virtual coach delivers them to you while you’re playing. In simple terms, this patent is about making a digital friend who watches you play video games, learns about how you play, and then talks to you to help you do better in the video game.

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Example flow diagram for generating insights for video games, according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. | Source: Patent Public Search

According to the patent’s claims, the system watches the in-game events, like when the player does something important, and decides if it’s a “big action.” If it is, it quickly figures out advice to help the player do better. Then, it turns this advice into talking and animated pictures that look like a real person. Players also have the option to personalise the advice they receive and how they receive it.

Additionally, the advice is given by a pretend person who’s like a cartoon character. The system gathers information about what the player is doing and uses rules to decide when to give advice. If something important happens in the video game, it quickly decides what to say to help the player.

While there hasn’t been an official announcement about the development or utilisation of this patent by Electronic Arts, the potential impact is substantial. The patent introduces exciting opportunities for creating immersive gaming experiences. Players are no longer isolated in tackling challenges; instead, they can rely on their virtual coach for advice, tips, and motivation.

While the exact timeline for the potential broad availability of this system remains uncertain, the disclosure of the patent is sure to incite excitement among both players and video game developers. As we eagerly anticipate the opportunity to engage with our individual virtual mentors, the future of gaming is poised to become remarkably dynamic and player-centric.

What do you think about this? Do tell us your opinions in the comments below!

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