Electronic Arts makes the ‘ping system’, other accessibility-oriented patents, available free of charge

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The game developer was awarded patents for easy communication, among other things.

James Martin / CNET

This story is part of Technology for a better world, Stories about the diverse teams that develop products, apps and services to improve our lives and our society.

Electronic Arts is offering free use of five patents it has received on technologies that help people with visual, hearing, and other disabilities play video games. It will also offer free code made to customize games for color blindness, brightness, and contrast issues. The initiative marks the first time that the game maker has made its accessibility technology available for free to anyone who wants to use it.

The company’s announcement on Tuesday coincides with the granting of a patent for the Communication system “ping” It was developed for its 2018 competitive online shooter game Apex Legends. In the game, players make each other aware of important information by pointing their character’s weapon at it and then pressing a special button. When they point to a piece of land, they point teammates to a specific location. If they are aimed at an enemy when the button is pressed, the team will be informed of the position of an enemy. And all of this without having to chat with voice and via microphones.

Above is a standard game screen from EA’s Madden NFL game. Below, with colors adapted for deuteranopia known as red-green blindness.

EA

“We chose to patent these ideas because they can make a real difference in making video games more accessible – be it ours or others.” Chris Bruzzo, an executive vice president for EA who oversees commercial efforts, marketing and “positive play,” said in an email. “By sharing these accessibility patents, we hope to encourage and support other developers to do the same.”

EA’s move is the latest in how technology and games companies are increasingly looking to make their products easier to use for wider groups of people. In recent years, companies have grown from Apple to Microsoft, AT&T and even Starbucks have developed new features and products to help people with a wide variety of needs.

In the gaming world in particular, companies like Sony are placing increasing emphasis on expanding functions Titles like last year’s survival horror game The Last of Us Part 2, to make it easier for people with disabilities to play. For its part, Microsoft designed the Xbox Adaptive Controller with inputs and software designed to make things easy for people Who can’t use a standard video game controller.

In EA’s case, it allows free use of its accessible patents and hopes to foster similar collaboration across the tech industry. “When you patent a technology or idea, you publish technical information that would otherwise never have been available to the public,” added Bruzzo. “This gives developers the know-how to advance the state of the art in game development.”

Aside from its ping patent, EA said it also provides patents that help with color vision problems, contrast ratio, and hearing problems.


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