Sony Patents Robot Buddy that Can Ease Loneliness During Isolation

CJ Robles, Tech Times 18 April 2020, 01:04 pm

(Photo : REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach) A man uses a Sony PlayStation controller during the Gamescom 2015 fair in Cologne, Germany August 6, 2015. The Gamescom convention, Europe's largest video games trade fair, runs from August 5 to August 9.

(Photo : @USPTO/Sony) screenshot of patent images

Are you feeling lonely while playing video games at home? Sony comes up with the idea of having a "gaming buddy" to join gamers on the couch.

As communities worldwide are advised to stay indoors and practice social distancing to halt the spread of the virus, feelings of isolation and loneliness become more prevalent. Thus, many people turn to play video games.

To combat such psychological concerns, the World Health Organization, in partnership with major gaming studios, has recently launched the #PlayApartTogether project "to encourage people to stay home" during the pandemic.

While on isolation, having a "robot that sits with you on the couch" is adorable to think and could somehow fill the void. The robot will be able to measure the gamer's emotions and give emotional support when needed.

Too bad, it is not yet available in the market. It is actually just an idea the tech company got a patent for on Friday. Well, it could have been a perfect ally while spending much time at home during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Gaming Buddy

Using a "feeling deduction unit" that will sense the gamer's feelings, the robot will then react accordingly, either uplifting or condolences. This mainly revolves around the concept that shared experience for gaming (or even watching movies) is more fun than doing it alone.

Although the sketches can be a little dull but can be improved, of course, the patent describes the gaming buddy as a fuzzy robot with no mouth but can talk and empathize with the player. It can move its arm, leg, or neck to respond to the user's emotions. It also has a pair of eyes and cute boots.

This idea is somehow related to another concept that Sony applied patent for. A "biofeedback sensor controller attachment, which can gauge the gamer's feelings, including joy, anger, love, and surprise, as well as track the user's heart rate and sweating state.

As written in the patent description, the sensor can be attached to a PlayStation DualShock controller "to provide an immersive and highly interactive experience for players, to enhance the enjoyment of the player."

Gaming and loneliness

The patent's objective is to provide a companion to improve the gaming experience and the gamer's overall wellbeing. It could be a "pet-type robot" or an avatar, which exists in the games, or both.

Although this may take years of work, it may resolve the complex link between gaming and loneliness.

A 2015 study shows that spending much time playing computer or video games can cause psychological problems such as loneliness on secondary students. Loneliness usually includes anxious feelings about a lack of connectedness or commonality and harms learning for youngsters. It may lead to and symptoms of other social or psychological problems such as chronic depression, and antisocial and self-destructive behavior.

Another study on computer game addiction concludes that "as game addiction increases, loneliness increases." It then recommends having assessments and effective evaluations of children's loneliness and computer game addiction. It also proposes to have a rehabilitating treatment system among school-hospital-family for abnormal cases.