The PlayStation 5 may come with a cute little robot buddy that plays games with you and apparently has actual emotions.
With the PlayStation 5 being a mystery for so long (and it still kind of is considering we don’t know what it looks like), fans have been latching onto Sony patents, believing each of them could provide potential hints about the console.
So far, none of them seem to have come to fruition, and we can probably add this latest one to the pile. But it is rather interesting from a conceptual stand-point: a robot buddy.
Discovered by IGN, a listing on the US Patent & Trademark Office website shows off the little companion, which has apparently been designed to sit next to you while you play games.
The link no longer seems to work, suggesting the patent has been taken down, but this link still leads to an image of the robot, which looks like a small cloud with eyes, limbs, and boots. Although we’re assuming that’s not the final design.
Obviously, it’s meant to do more than keep you company. According to the patent, it would be autonomous and play games with you, acting as an AI opponent in multiplayer titles.
It also apparently has a ‘feeling deduction unit,’ which is a fancy way of saying it can recognise emotions and react to them, and a biological sensor that can detect a person’s heart rate, which is very similar to a previous patent for a controller (why does Sony seem so obsessed with tracking that?)
‘It is expected that the user’s affinity with the robot is increased and motivation for playing a game is enhanced by the robot viewing the gameplay next to the user and being pleased or sad together with the user,’ reads the patent.
‘Further, regarding not only the game but also a movie, a television program, or the like, it is expected that the user may enjoy content more by viewing the content with the robot as compared to the case of viewing it alone.’
As if that wasn’t enough, the patent claims that it comes with a ‘love index.’ Basically, it has emotions and, if it feels like it’s being treated unfavourably (e.g. you don’t charge it when it asks you), it won’t empathise with the player during gameplay anymore, so as to encourage you to treat it well.
Either that or it will take part in some sort of robot revolution and seek to overthrow us all (no, we’re not paranoid).
It would most certainly be interesting if this is fully realised. We haven’t seen anything like it since Nintendo’s R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) in the 1980s.
R.O.B. was designed as an accessory for its own unique set of games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, but only got two titles and was discontinued, though it has made something of a comeback as a fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series.
As for Sony’s own robot friend, it’s too early to say if it will actually see the light of day. Sony could simply be experimenting with the idea, since it’s focus is likely on the release on the PlayStation 5 first and foremost.
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