PlayStation 5 Will Include a Sony Voice Assistant: Report
Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 5 video game console may feature a voice assistant, according to leaked patent papers. The AI platform is being built by Sony specifically for its video game system instead of integrating an existing voice assistant.
PlayStation Voice Companion
The patent, as found on Patentscope, is for a “Voice Help System Using Artificial Intelligence,” and called the PlayStation Assist. The description of the voice assistant suggests it can serve as a constant companion during gameplay in order to improve the gaming experience for the player.
“As a result, the player has a more immersive experience with the gaming application, such that rather than just playing the gaming application out-of-the-box, so to speak, the player can enhance his or her game play with information that is presented (e.g., audio, text, video, etc.) simultaneously with the game play, and/or a running conversation with an automated gaming assistant (e.g., gaming butler/navigator) during the game play that is configured to provide psychological and informational support to the player.”
The psychological element suggests that the voice assistant will actively encourage the player during the game like a virtual cheerleader, in addition to more prosaic advice. The PlayStation Assist sounds like it will be light-years ahead in sophistication to the PlayStation 4’s voice command software. The voice commands, which require installing a PlayStation Camera, are more along the lines of a voice remote control rather than an artificial intelligence. The patent details the PlayStation Assist as part of a larger ecosystem, detailing a mobile device linked to the PS5 that could track gameplay statistics.
Sony has filed a new patent for an AI powered voice assistant called PlayStation Assist.
You can input a query and then the game will dynamically respond.
E.g. Ask for the nearest health pack > The game marks it on your map.https://t.co/BQWibOqSRP pic.twitter.com/PNKDEH7jGe
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) September 29, 2019
Video Game Voices
Patents don’t always lead to actual products, but Sony’s interest in making a voice assistant for its next iteration of the PlayStation could be part of a trend. Microsoft’s Xbox One console system offers three different voice assistant options. Microsoft added support for Google Assistant just last month, a year after integrating Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s own Cortana voice assistants.
The voice commands for Xbox One are not at the level of companionship described in the patent, but the AI in the platforms does offer more flexibility in terms of names and other elements. The voice assistants also offer some game-specific voice apps to enhance the experience for gamers. Sony already builds electronics with other voice assistants built-in, such as smart televisions and speaker systems. If PlayStation 5 has an in-house version, however, it’s not hard to imagine the company bringing a version of it to some of its other product lines, at least as an option.
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