Communication methods and apparatus for online games

Abstract

By providing voice recognition in a gaming environment, an IVR server may operate to revoice a player with a voice tone pitch and accent more appropriate to the player's character. This improves the quality of the illusion of the game play. Furthermore, accurate volume may be applied to particular voices dependent on their location relative to the player and the game may be controlled using voice commands.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of communicating in an online game, comprising:
 receiving speech from a player of the online game;   performing speech recognition on the received speech;   generating a representation of the recognized speech as speech data in non-speech format; and   regenerating speech from the speech data in the non-speech format for presentation to at least one other player of the online game, the regenerated speech having a predetermined speech characteristics.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the speech from the player of the online game is performed at a user device operated by the player of the online game. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein performing speech recognition on the received speech is performed at a server coupled to the user device by a communication network. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein generating a representation of the recognized speech as speech data in an non-speech format is performed at a server coupled to the user device by a communication network. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein regenerating speech from the speech data in the non-speech format for presentation to at least one other player of the online game is performed at a server coupled to the user device by a communication network. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising presenting the regenerated speech to multiple other players of the online game. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising not presenting the regenerated speech to at least one other player of the online game. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein regenerating speech from the speech data in the non-speech format comprises processing the speech for presentation to a particular player of the online game based on data indicating a respective location of the particular player in the game. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein processing the speech for presentation to a particular player of the online game based on data indicating a respective location of the particular player in the game comprises adjusting at least one of:
 volume of the speech for presentation to the particular player;   reverberation of the speech for presentation to the particular player; and   echo of the speech for presentation to the particular player.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein performing speech recognition on the received speech comprises performing speech recognition on the received speech using a speech recognition process which is specific to the player of the online game from whom the speech is received. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , comprising training the speech recognition process which is specific to the player of the online game from whom the speech is received based on speech received from the player of the online game during a training process. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 performing speech recognition on speech received from each of a plurality of players of the online game to provide a respective recognized speech stream from each respective player;   generating a respective representation of each respective recognized speech stream as a respective stream of speech data in non-speech format; and   regenerating a respective speech stream from each respective stream of speech data in the non-speech format;   mixing a respective selection of the regenerated speech streams for presentation to each respective player of the game.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein performing speech recognition on speech received from each of the plurality of players of the online game comprises performing speech recognition on the speech received from each respective player using a respective speech recognition process which is specific to the respective player of the online game from whom the speech is received. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , comprising training each respective speech recognition process based on respective speech received from each respective player during a respective training process. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising selecting at least some of the predetermined speech characteristics based on at least one input received from the player of the online game. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein selecting at least some of the predetermined speech characteristics based on input received from the player of the online game comprises selecting at least some of the predetermined speech characteristics based on at least one input received from the player of the online game during setup of the online game. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein selecting at least some of the predetermined speech characteristics based on input received from the player of the online game comprises selecting at least some of the predetermined speech characteristics based on at least one input received from the player of the online game during play of the online game. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising processing the recognized speech to block at least one predetermined word. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising processing the recognized speech to replace at least one predetermined word with another predetermined word. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 2 , comprising controlling at least one aspect of the online game based on at least some of the speech data in the non-speech format. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-speech format is a text format. 
     
     
         22 . A method of controlling an online game, comprising:
 receiving speech from a player of the online game;   performing speech recognition on the received speech;   generating a representation of the recognized speech as speech data in an internal format; and   controlling at least one aspect of the online game based on at least some of the speech data in the internal format.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein receiving the speech from the player of the online game is performed at a user device operated by the player of the online game. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein performing speech recognition on the received speech is performed at a server coupled to the user device by a communication network. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein generating a representation of the recognized speech as speech data in an non-speech format is performed at a server coupled to the user device by a communication network. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein regenerating speech from the speech data in the non-speech format for presentation to at least one other player of the online game is performed at a server coupled to the user device by a communication network. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein performing speech recognition on the received speech comprises performing speech recognition on the received speech using a speech recognition process which is specific to the player of the online game from whom the speech is received. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , comprising training the speech recognition process which is specific to the player of the online game from whom the speech is received based on speech received from the player of the online game during a training process.