EA Working On Personalised Colour Blindness Settings In Games

Rundown:

• Electronic Arts has recently published a patent for a “colour blindness diagnostic system” to determine whether colour-blind accessibility settings should be enabled for particular players in video games.
• The system uses virtual colour blindness indication objects that contain colours distinguishable within a single dichromatic visual spectrum to identify a player’s type of colour blindness.
• By incorporating these objects into gameplay, the system prompts players to interact with them, allowing the identification of their specific colour deficiency.
• The patent discusses the use of thresholds and daltonisation to enable and adjust colour-blind accessibility settings based on the player’s interaction.

Earlier today, we came across a recently published patent from Electronic Arts titled “COLOR BLINDNESS DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM,” filed in November 2022 under the name of Electronic Arts Inc. The patent, published earlier this month, describes a system for determining whether colour-blind accessibility settings should be enabled during a player’s interaction with a video game.

The system utilises virtual colour blindness indication objects that contain colours distinguishable within a single dichromatic visual spectrum. These objects are used in objectives or tasks within the video game to determine the player’s type of colour blindness.

“Systems and methods for determining whether to enable color blind accessibility settings within the course of a user interactive narrative are described herein. Virtual color blindness indication objects containing colors that are visibly distinguishable within a single dichromatic visual spectrum can be utilized in objectives to determine a user’s dichromatic visual deficiency type,” reads the abstract for the patent.

According to the patent, many video games do not initially offer colour-blind accessibility settings. This means that colour-blind players often miss important visual cues while playing the video game. The purpose of this system is to automatically enable and adjust colour-blind accessibility settings based on a player’s specific type of colour blindness during gameplay.

The system works by incorporating virtual colour blindness indication objects into the interactive narrative of the video game. These objects have colours that are easily distinguishable within specific types of colour blindness, such as protanopia, deuteranopia, or tritanopia. The player is prompted to interact with these objects during gameplay.

The patent elaborates that the player is prompted to interact with the virtual colour blindness indication objects after a virtual character controlled by the player arrives at a designated location within the video game environment.

Moreover, the player characters within the video game can encompass various virtual entities such as heroes, knights, commanders, leaders, generals, or any other characters with unique qualities, abilities, magical powers, knowledge, or personalised attributes.

The units present in the in-game environment, under the player’s control, can consist of troops or other entities found in video games that can be trained, recruited, captured, or obtained in groups or large numbers.

The objects controlled by the players may include weapons, vehicles, projectiles, magic items, wardrobes, boots, armour, knapsacks, medicine, healing potions, or any other virtual items that may be employed by the players for interaction within the video game.

Based on the player’s interaction with these objects, the system determines the type of colour blindness the player has. The different types of colour blindness categorise the virtual colour blindness indication objects, and the player’s interaction helps identify their specific deficiency.

The patent also discusses the use of thresholds for interaction to determine the enablement and adjustment of colour-blind accessibility settings. If a player meets the threshold for a specific type of colour blindness, the system enables the corresponding colour-blind accessibility setting.

Additional virtual colour blindness indication objects may be generated to fine-tune the settings based on the player’s interaction. The patent also mentions the use of daltonisation, a process that adjusts colours to make them more distinguishable for colour-blind individuals. The system can apply daltonisation to enhance the colour blind accessibility setting.

By incorporating this system into video games, video game developers can provide colour-blind players with a mechanism to perceive and differentiate specific virtual objects. This ingenious technology not only enhances the gameplay experience for colour-vision-deficient players but also promotes inclusivity within the video game community.

The granting of this patent marks a significant step forward in Electronic Arts’ ongoing efforts to improve accessibility in the video game industry. It demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that players of all abilities can fully participate and enjoy the virtual worlds created by video game developers.

However, it is crucial to note that this patent is currently in the stage of being published and does not guarantee implementation or development by Electronic Arts. Nevertheless, the patent represents a step towards a more inclusive future for players with colour-vision deficiencies. It holds the potential to deliver a more immersive and enjoyable gameplay experience for all.

As the video game industry continues to evolve, it is hoped that more video game developers will adopt such innovative solutions to make video games accessible to a wider audience. The patented technology opens up new possibilities for enhancing colour-blind accessibility not only in video games but also in other virtual environments.

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

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Huzaifa Khan

Started out penning short stories in my room, then stumbled upon my real passion for video game and technology journalism. Now, I’m all about playing and writing about them. With experience from VeryAliGaming, eXputer.com, and TheNerdMag, I’m currently dishing out news on Gamesual from my place.