Gaze Tracking System for Dynamic Game Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current computer games rely on direct player input methods, which can influence player decisions and may not effectively capture spontaneous attention, limiting the ability to alter gameplay experience non-intrusively based on player focus.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a camera to determine a player's direction of gaze, correlates it with objects in the game, and adjusts gameplay paths, dialogs, or player skills based on sustained attention, allowing for dynamic and non-intrusive changes to the gaming experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If direct player input methods are used to determine player decisions, then player control and decision-making are established, but the player's spontaneous attention cannot be captured and the gameplay experience cannot be altered non-intrusively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (camera, gaze detection algorithms,, and game modification logic) that mediates between the player's natural behavior and the game's response system. This intermediary layer captures gaze data without requiring direct player input, allowing the game to adapt to player attention while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical input methods (buttons, controllers) with an optical detection system (camera-based gaze tracking). This substitution eliminates the need for physical interaction to capture player intent, enabling non-intrusive monitoring of player attention and spontaneous decision-making.
2Loss of information
If gaze tracking technology is implemented to capture player attention, then spontaneous player focus can be detected, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential gaze direction information from complex camera data streams, correlating it with game object positions. By taking out only the relevant attention data needed for gameplay modification and discarding extraneous information, the system reduces processing complexity while maintaining effective player attention capture.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the player's own gaze behavior as the input signal, requiring no additional sensors or complex interaction mechanisms. The camera system leverages naturally occurring eye movements and head positions to determine attention, allowing the system to serve itself using readily available visual data without requiring complex external measurement devices.
3Measurement precision
If multiple parameters are used to determine player attention (gaze direction, duration, frequency), then measurement precision improves, but processing time and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-establishes correlation criteria and thresholds for gaze parameters (direction, duration, frequency) before actual gameplay monitoring begins. By preliminarily setting the decision rules and parameter weights, the system can quickly evaluate player attention in real-time without performing complex calculations during gameplay, thus maintaining measurement precision while reducing processing time.
Data Source
AI summary
Using a camera or other tracking hardware, the attention of a player of a computer game (based on gaze direction, for instance) is tracked at key/predetermined points during game play. For example, when the player enters a new area in the game such as a simulated room, town, etc., it is determined what the player's gaze focuses on more, e.g., a dog huddled in the corner, a nobleman with obvious signs of wealth, or a shifty appearing figure in the shadows. Based on this input, one or more factors of future gameplay are determined, such as an order in which to present encounters/challenges, adjusting a character's “morality” score/flag, adjusting bonuses/penalties to non-player character (NPC) interactions, etc.