Despite what you might have heard, the online world of Xbox Live isn't the most hospitable place. In fact - on a good day - it can be filled with some of the most vile, disgusting, and racial hate-speech you've ever heard. Again, that's on a good day. While Microsoft has done an admirable job in keeping the vulgarity to a minimum with gamertags and text, the one area they've had zero influence is the one innovated by their inclusion of a headset with every account: potty mouths.
Technology site Ars Technica recently uncovered with some super-sleuthing a patent filed by Microsoft in 2004 that will - dare we dream - put an end to the vicious nature of many (but not all) of Xbox Lives less than mature members. The official filing (which can be found HERE) states the following:
"The automatic censoring filter employs a lattice comprising either phonemes and/or words derived from phonemes for comparison against corresponding phonemes or words included in undesired speech data. If the probability that a phoneme or word in the input audio data stream matches a corresponding phoneme or word in the undesired speech data is greater than a probability threshold, the input audio data stream is altered so that the undesired word or a phrase comprising a plurality of such words is unintelligible or inaudible."
To see how this could change the life and times of just about everyone, read on!
Although the gaming world presumes this only to censor some of the service's nastier commentary, Ars Technica has quite a bit of fun speculating just how else the technology could be used in day-to-day life. Live-censoring of television? Keep in mind this patent was filed after the notorious Nipplegate (Superbowl 2004) and you literally see the connections forming...
Big thanks to Ars Technica for the grey matter!
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