EA Has Unlocked 23 Accessibility Patents For Third-Party Developers

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As a gamer with a history of photo-sensitivity issues, I can’t help but feel a profound sense of gratitude towards Electronic Arts for their recent move to unlock 23 patents tied to accessibility, including speech recognition and photosensitivity innovations. Their commitment to making gaming more inclusive is truly commendable.

Electronic Arts has delivered on their commitment to boost inclusivity and improve accessibility within the gaming sector. Most recently, they’ve made public 23 patents, which encompass advancements such as speech recognition and photosensitivity technologies. In line with their 2021 pledge, they aim to share their internal technology with the broader industry for the benefit of all gamers.

Sharing is Caring

On December 5th, Electronic Arts decided to share 23 of their patents publicly, allowing external developers not affiliated with EA to use them. The majority of these patents focus on advancements in speech recognition technology and testing tools designed to identify photo sensitivity problems.

A significant output is a Unreal Engine 5 plugin, enabling access to EA’s IRIS technology – an analytical tool that allows developers to detect potential photosensitivity problems within their game during testing. This tool is currently available for free and is open-source, offering developers the flexibility to experiment with its functionalities.

In a post on EA’s blog, it was said:

For quite some time now, Electronic Arts (EA) has been working diligently to create a gaming environment that is as inclusive and barrier-free as possible, fostering a shared passion for video games among its players. In line with this commitment and in observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we have incorporated 23 new patents focusing on accessibility into our pioneering accessibility patent pledge.

By introducing this initiative in 2021, we’re making our accessibility-focused technologies available to the broader gaming industry without royalties. This way, we collaborate with others to address the requirements of our varied gaming audience not only within EA but across industries as well.

IRIS functions by examining potential problems within a game, particularly fast-flashing images and patterns which might induce seizures in people with epilepsy. It measures these visuals against a basic standard that updates in real-time, determining whether a sequence passes, issues a warning, or fails based on its assessment.

Before now, EA has been providing patents centered around text problems. For instance, there’s the tool named Fontikk, which was made open-source in 2022, and it examines text to assess its readability.

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2024-12-06 09:47