Wii rumor: voice-to-text chat

by James Ransom-Wiley { Aug 15th 2006 at 1:25PM }

The latest Wii rumor, apparently spun by an IGN Insider forum member, a source that provided early details of the Wiimote's built-in speaker, claims that some Wii games, namely first-party titles, will feature an "advanced" voice-to-text chat interface.

Allegedly, the technology (here's the patent) not only converts speech into text, but also analyzes the tone of speech and applies corresponding colors, sizes, and fonts to the text. Presumably, the technology would also censor explicit speech, or better, convert it into sweet nothings, thereby protecting the innocent ears, or rather, eyes of Nintendo's fledgling fan base. Rest assured, 'mature' gamers will still be able to experience good ol' fashioned speech-on-speech communication.

The rumor also suggests that "wireless, head-mounted microphones" will be the standard device for online chatter, be it the all-speech or speech-to-text format. The forum post adds that Wii and DS could share some unspecified peripherals, perhaps implying that the microphones will be cross-platform compatible.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mark D. @ Aug 15th 2006 1:31PM

Applies colours? New insult just in:

You're so ghey your voice looks pink!

Webimpulse @ Aug 15th 2006 1:32PM

I must admit, I love that picture.

Sevon @ Aug 15th 2006 1:32PM

FLEDGLING fan base? Rather pointed barb there...rather inaccurate, I'd say, too.

D-6 @ Aug 15th 2006 1:33PM

That'd be great...you know, if it actually works well. In general, it's amazing how computers have evolved in past few decades, yet voice-recognition and voice-to-text is still as primitive as it's ever been.

cringer8 @ Aug 15th 2006 1:38PM

You guys could have started this rumor months ago, when I sent you the patent link. I guess it's not blog-worthy until it's on IGN ;)

MikeyJoe @ Aug 15th 2006 1:38PM

If that's true, that'd be awesome. You wouldn't have to type using whatever for the browser, just be like GOOGLE and it'l go there. Sweet.

Also, !!M..? It'l help there too!

Todd @ Aug 15th 2006 1:38PM

Imagine using your Wiimote as a VoIP phone.

vidGuy @ Aug 15th 2006 1:40PM

Would the text be "BRUE"?

crono141 @ Aug 15th 2006 1:42PM

LOL vidGuy

Derbeste @ Aug 15th 2006 1:43PM

This is the first thing about the Wiimote (if true) that really makes me yawn.

speech to text for a game? I don't get it.

If you're going to talk in one side for chatting.....why not have it come OUT as sound on the other side??

The only benefit I see to this is saving bandwidth. but even then, compression is so nice now that even that is not a huge hurdle. Going to text to save bandwidth only implies that the Wii's networking is quite a bit more limited than even it's graphical power.

Luckilly, this feature is purely software based so it shouldn't had to the cost of hardware. With any luck not many games will use it.

vidGuy @ Aug 15th 2006 1:46PM

Is Brain Age's voice thing really as bad as I've heard? Or is it because gamers don't innuciate? I don't own a DS so I haven't had the opportunity to try it out.

Anyway, I'd love to see this, if it'd work. This could probably be used to communicate with other gamers without friend codes since it could live-sensor cussing. And developers would need to be able to regulate where the text appears in different games, this shouldn't be defaulted in a specific area because some games need their corners.

Cool if it comes true.

barry @ Aug 15th 2006 1:46PM

sevon:

fledgling, adj. - New and untried or inexperienced

read it again now that you know what that word means.

crono141 @ Aug 15th 2006 1:48PM

More likely the feature is there for those poor souls still using dail-up with a wi-fi dongle. That way you still have enough bandwidth to play the game & chat with other folks.

Will @ Aug 15th 2006 1:54PM

If it was spun by an IGN insider, I highly doubt it's going to be true.

vidGuy @ Aug 15th 2006 1:58PM

The same insider predicted the speaker in the remote before Nintendo made mention of it (which is before most DEVELOPERS knew about it), so maybe he has some credence.

Of course, this could be just rampant speculation... but with as little as Nintendo is letting on about, rumors are all we have right now.

Todd @ Aug 15th 2006 2:01PM

Speaking into the controller and having your words translate to text will be quite a feat. Those of you bashing, stop being so limited in scope. Imagine being able to send email to people just by verbally reciting whatever you want.

blahman @ Aug 15th 2006 2:02PM

Fledgling is the correct word there. Remember Nintendo wants non-gamers now. Those people new video games would constitute a "fledgling fan base."

redspear @ Aug 15th 2006 2:03PM

I could see uses for this outside of commincation stuff like text commands so you could only take to one player like

/SAY USER100: "meassage body VoIP and chat"

I doubt that would happen but would be cool if this rumor is true and the voice recognition is decent.

Rememebr the Voice Recognition on the DS was run off a much weaker system than the Wii. So it is possible it will work much better.

blahman @ Aug 15th 2006 2:04PM

* new TO video games

I'm stupid, deal with it.

redspear @ Aug 15th 2006 2:05PM

There is a patent owned by nintendo about voice recognition with color and capalization controlled by tone of voice

KR @ Aug 15th 2006 2:06PM

Best picture ever.

.ed @ Aug 15th 2006 2:08PM

i think this would be great, and a wecome addition to my games

KR @ Aug 15th 2006 2:12PM

vidGuy - yes, it's bad. However, I think I have it pretty well figured out. By not speaking directly into the mic, and talking in a normal voice (meaning, talk like I'm not trying to play a video game) seems to get "Blue" to work for me probably 8 out of every 10 times it comes us. Considering you usually only run into "Blue" 7 or 8 times during a test, I've had a pretty accurate test score for that challenge.

Lynx34 @ Aug 15th 2006 2:26PM

@all the 'brue' comments

Have any of you played Brain Age? I own it, and have done the Stroop Test probably about 10-15 times, maybe more; it has no problem whatsoever comprehending when you say 'blue' correctly. My guess is that whoever started the criticism of the voice recognition in Brain Age probably couldn't speak the English language very well.

Justin @ Aug 15th 2006 2:28PM

I don't know about this. I highly doubt the Wii has enough processing power to handle something so advanced!

.ed @ Aug 15th 2006 2:28PM

the benefits of text over voice as described by the patent:

[0009] While voice chat has been widely adopted in the gaming community and has achieved a fair degree of success, text chat is still being used by some because of several advantages it provides over voice chat. Communicating with other online players in massive multiplayer online role playing games, for example, is still often provided by text chat rather than voice chat. Text chat provides a record of conversations so that players can review exactly what was said by other players, and also provides the ability to easily identify the player who sent a particular message (text can be tagged with a speaker's identity). In addition, using text chat, one player's statements can be easily separated from another player's statements since the text typically appears separately (this can also be done with voice chat using a half-duplex type communications system, but this might be somewhat frustrating to the speakers). Additionally, unlike most voice chat, text chat provides the ability to mask the player's true identity. This can be useful when the game play includes avatars that in effect provide an "alter ego" for each human player. For example, if a 12 year old boy is playing the role of a 40 year old warrior, voice chat can spoil or detract from the game play experience since the warrior ends up having the voice of a 12 year old. Additional advantages of text chat include the ability to monitor and censor player conversations for bad language, and reduction in the amount of bandwidth required to convey the information.

[0010] Despite the continued usefulness of text chat in some game play contexts, using the keyboard continues to have significant disadvantages, especially for console or other game platforms that do not include keyboards. A keyboard is a bulky accessory, and it detracts from game play if the user has to remove his hands from the controller to type a message. The impersonation problem with voice chat can be addressed by providing voice filters that alter the sound of a player's voice, but so far players have not generally been using such voice masking since the resulting sound quality can be relatively low and intelligibility ends up being sacrificed.

crono141 @ Aug 15th 2006 3:02PM

Yes, I have played brain age.

Yes it has trouble with the word blue.

yes if you speak in a normal tone, it has much less trouble.

yes, shouting "BRUE!" makes it much worse :)

Cabbage @ Aug 15th 2006 3:12PM

Thanks .ed, that helps a lot.

Using voice-to-text conversion would also help protect children from sexual predators in two ways:

1- nobody would have to know that the player was a child (as mentioned in .ed's post)

2- there would be a written record of what everyone said, and it would be attached to a specific user, making prosecution much more likely

It would be hilarious if the online system automatically branded people as "potty mouth," "racially intolerant," or "poor loser" so that you could decide whether or not to even deal with those people.

I can see where this would come in handy just for aesthetic reasons. Games like Animal Crossing that don't feature any voicework would be a lot more seamless if your visiting friends also spoke in chat bubbles. I'm sure some games might include voice chat or even a hybrid system where you can hear and read what they say. I think thats pretty darn cool.

Bored @ Aug 15th 2006 3:18PM

#7 No, I don't imagine using my wiimote as a voip phone.

If there voice to text thingie is anything like a cell phones, then this idea is dead on arrival.

DinnyHoon @ Aug 15th 2006 3:34PM

You reckon it'll properly translate "my roflcopter goes tche tche tche tche tche soi soi soi soi soi"?

JD @ Aug 15th 2006 3:40PM

Hmmm. I thought Nintendo earlier announced officially that the Wiimote would NOT include a microphone. Having the microphone be a separate device could explain things -- don't have to be swinging the remote and trying to yell into it at the same time.

Although the patent mentions voice-to-text, it sounds like this might be more about pitch evaluation. Scream does one thing, wisper does another. Not really in-game chat. Shouldn't take too much processing power.

Could be very interesting. Scream and swing the remote and Link does one thing. Wisper and swing and Link does something else.

LegendarySyko @ Aug 15th 2006 3:44PM

I really like this idea. Hope it true. It could be that you can get Voice to Voice with people only on your friends list and only receive text from people who are not.

Cabcru @ Aug 15th 2006 3:54PM

After everyone going on about 'blue' issues with Brain Age, I was a bit wary. Surprised the hell out of me when I had no trouble at all.

I reckon they're all just bitter closet thickos. ;)

CP229 @ Aug 15th 2006 4:06PM

I see this very possible as I was almost certain that nintendo wouldn't do live chat since they are more "everyone" freindly *cough*amountofcussinginhalo2*cough*.
I only thing I hope it turns out better then wiindows vista voice recognition. ;) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1123221217782777472&q=vista+voice&hl=en

Dr.Swiss @ Aug 15th 2006 4:10PM

"You reckon it'll properly translate "my roflcopter goes tche tche tche tche tche soi soi soi soi soi"?"

Only if there's a God.

GlitchCog @ Aug 15th 2006 4:31PM

On the fledgling thing...

Nintendo doesn't really have a "fledgling fan base," meaning that the fan base is just beginning. What they have could be more accurately referred to as a fan base of fledgling video gamers.

Mullinator @ Aug 15th 2006 4:41PM

In games I am far more interested in using it to order around NPC's.

"Set up a sniper position in that tower over there" (points remote at a guard tower in the distance).

"Give me covering fire over that hill" (points remote at a nearby hill).

Now that would be useful in games.

vidGuy @ Aug 15th 2006 5:09PM

Mullinator, I could see that being totally possible. The XBOX game SWAT uses the headset communicator to issue similar commands, and NFL Head Coach allows the player to vocally call plays. Of course, these are done with sound recognition of specific commands, like "arrest" in SWAT or "yellow 2" in HC.

With a voice to text capability, the software could look for distinguishing words and use that to perform actions so that you could use sentences rather than one or two word commands, which are often hard to remember. In your first example, "sniper" and "tower", plus the direction indicated, could be used to determine what needed to be done. Of course, it would have to be a good AI software, because just searching for those words could also lead your NPCs to shoot at an imaginery sniper in the tower.

Intersting ideas.

electro^plankton @ Aug 15th 2006 5:41PM

It has more than enough power. I saw an art installation last year in Los Angeles utilizing the same tech powered by an iBook G3.

A small cafe filled with tables, microphones, and projection screens above each table. When you started chatting, your voice was translated into text on the projection screen above you inside an animated chat bubble. It could even detect tonal and expressive qualities in your voice, so if you were shouting, the font would dynamically get bigger - all caps, and vice versa if you're whispering. It was pretty cool because as you walked around the cafe, everyone had these little chat bubbles floating above their heads. It was a surreal experience because I could look across the room and read what other people's conversations were and get a sense of how excited they were by watching how their text size, color and shape changed.