EA Makes Five Accessibility Patents Available for Any Studio to Use for Free - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 24 August 2021 / 1,241 Views
Electronic Arts announced it is making five of its accessibility patents available for free for any studio to use and promises it will not enforce against any party infringing on these patents.
"Through our patent pledge, we’re committing that every developer in the industry will be able to use our accessibility-centered technology patents -- royalty free," reads Electronic Arts' post on its patent pledge page.
"Anyone can freely use these patents and implement our accessibility-centered IP in their own games to make them more inclusive. This pledge covers some of our most innovative technologies designed to break down barriers for players living with disabilities or medical issues. This includes those with vision, hearing, speaking or cognitive issues."
Read EA's pledge below:
Electronic Arts (EA) promises not to enforce against any party for infringing any of the listed EA patents. A list of patents subject to this pledge can be found below, and EA may add additional patents to this pledge at a later date.
EA makes this pledge legally binding, irrevocable (except as under “Defensive Termination”) and enforceable against EA and all subsequent patent owners of the listed patents. This pledge does not provide any warranties or assurances that the activities covered by pledged patents are free from patent or other intellectual property infringement claims by a third party.
EA did add they still have the right to remove the pledge for a specific party or affiliate in the future if the party files a patent infringement lawsuit or other patent proceeding against EA, its affiliates, or partners.
Here is the list of patents:
- Contextually Aware Communications System in Video Games – Ping System that allows players to transmit contextually aware audio and visual communications generated via mappable controller inputs.
- Systems and Methods for Automated Image Processing for Images with Similar Luminosities (two patents) – Image processing that improves visibility of colours to optimize for colour vision deficiencies.
- Contrast Radio Detection and Rendering System – Automatically detecting contrast ratios in pixel regions of rendered frames and updating regions having subpar contrast ratios to meet contrast ratio standards or thresholds.
- Personalized Real-Time Audio Generation Based on User Physiological Response – Generating personalized music based on a user’s hearing information and stylistic preference to best comport with that user’s hearing issues.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Credit where credit is due....
I'm sure that at least part of the reason they're doing this is for positive PR, but I've still got to give them credit.
probably the only thing you will ever get from EA for free
What kind of a-hole company patents accessibility features in the first place?
Companies patent all sort of things if for no other reason they can use them to either counter sue or cross license. I can't really fault them for making patents when other companies do and unfortunately their is no little penalty for junk patents. It's what they do with the patents that determines what type company they are.
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