For many years, mainstream gaming catered primarily to non-disabled players, with little consideration given to those living with disabilities. Traditional console controllers requiring fine motor skills and visual interfaces have always posed challenges for those with disabilities. The auditory aspects of many games also excluded individuals with hearing impairments. However, as the gaming industry continues to grow, so too do the people living with various disabilities continue feeling isolated and unable to participate in gaming.
While a few accessible alternatives have been developed over time, many gamers with disabilities still face various barriers. Past failures to integrate different needs have excluded a segment of possible supporters. Fortunately, AI seems to be the answer to this problem, given new developments by respected research institutes, including Openai, which suggest it may resolve this disconnect.
Visual Assistance for Blind and Low-Vision Gamers
Many game developers are now drawing inspiration from helpful assistive technologies to include artificial intelligence-based visual assistance in their games. One great example that many are looking at is the Be My Eyes app, which connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and even uses AI to describe visual situations. In a similar way, developers can use AI’s abilities to verbally describe what’s happening on screen to players who can’t see everything.
Microsoft’s latest Flight Simulator uses multiple AIs to provide detailed human-like explanations of the game’s elements. As players explore real-world environments, the AI describes movements, aircraft, and other visual elements. This feature allows visually impaired players to experience a virtual world where they are down. In addition to narration, AI can use spatial audio to provide clues about virtual environments to help players with low vision pick up objects that interact with each other and identify them.
Features like these are ideally suited to narrative adventure, role-playing, and online casino games that involve understanding the visual components of slot reels or card games. The technology has great potential to make some of the best video and online casino games more accessible and enjoyable for blind or low-vision players. The AI describes the world in a way that brings those who can’t see everything into the experience just as much as those who can.
Transcription Services for Hearing Impairment
For people with hearing impairments, AI is also helping to make gaming more inclusive. Just as visual descriptions bring blind players into the world, intelligent captioning and subtitling aim to do the same for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Developers are incorporating advanced speech recognition technologies to provide real-time transcription of all dialogue, narration, and ambient sound effects into on-screen subtitles.
For example, in a busy multiplayer online battle arena game, the AI could recognize and transcribe the many verbal alerts and call-outs players use to strategize. In a narrative adventure game, every conversation between characters would be instantly deciphered and displayed. Some developers are even experimenting with newer methods, like directing vibrations from a controller to describe noises haptically for players. This ensures that no audio clues or social aspects that hearing players experience are left out.
Additional solutions involving alternative control schemes through adaptive controllers, eye tracking, or voice commands also help include gamers with limited motor skills. The opportunities for AI to remove barriers are growing as new techniques are discovered. The common goal is to make the interactive and dynamic elements of gaming equally accessible and engaging for all.
Bottom Line
The truth is that AI is here to stay, and the best thing to do is approach it positively. If gaming developers combine AI’s capabilities with other recent innovations, like Apple Vision Pro, entertainment for those with disabilities will be enhanced threefold. In the next few years, people living with disabilities will be able to enjoy some of the best video and online casino games just like everyone else.
