You speak, Wii writes

August 16th, 2006, 17:18 Posted By: wraggster

Speculation is mounting that the Wii will sport an intriguing feature which is as yet unannounced: voice-to-text communication. Originally unveiled by a "Nintendo insider" on an IGN gaming forum, and apparently confirmed by a NoA patent application, Nintendo's next-gen console could feature a system that converts online players' voice inputs to text, which it adjusts according to volume and tone of voice.

Thus, if a player shouts into the microphone (the patent application mentions both wireless earphone/microphone headsets and microphone input from controllers such as the Wii-mote), his or her text might be sent to competing players in a red, larger than normal-sized font, or if their voice sounds stressed or aggressive, the text may appear in a bold or italic font. The patent application also suggests that the voice recognition system will look for keywords and emphasise them - so, for example, the phrase: "I'm going to blast you" might be sent to competing players as "I'm going to BLAST you".

The system would come into its own in situations when, for example, online servers are unable to provide full voice-chat processing, or not all players are equipped with headphones, and would make aficionados of online PC games, who generally communicate with each other via text, feel at home.

It seems the Wii is set to be even more of a box of tricks than was previously thought - if this does all turn out to be part of the console, of course.

There are 3 comments - Join In and Discuss Here