A new patent filed by EA will use machine-learning to predict and alter the appearance of deformable clothes based on the movements of the character.

In the 1990s, video games made the leap from primarily 2D pixel art to 3D polygons, and since this time games have strived for the most realistic graphics, physics, and movements in their virtual worlds. Progress was quickly made on solid 3D objects, through advancements in textures, shading, and bump mapping. This progress has now slowed since AAA games have reached a very high standard of graphical fidelity, but publisher Electronic Arts is still searching for new advancements in graphical technology. A major game publisher like EA has a vested interest in making sure its games are the first to see these major advancements as it can also claim the patents for them.

This would also mean EA could market its games as the most graphically rich games available, and in an incredibly competitive market of near photorealistic AAA games, this is what will attract more potential players. For this reason, EA is constantly pursuing new technologies to make its games look better.

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The latest video game graphical software patent to be filed by EA looks to tackle an easily overlooked aspect of 3D game design, that is, deformable objects like clothing. Typically, a character’s clothing is designed as part of a ridged character model and can't be manipulated or moved like real clothing unless specifically animated to do so. Characters that wear long coats or robes will also often have this element act separately to the main character model, but this free-flowing section usually contrasts jarringly with the rest of the model as the only part of the character's outfit that is being affected by the game’s physics engine.

EA’s new patent, however, uses machine-learning in order to predict the realistic movement of clothing that is layered over a 3D model. Hopefully, this will result in a character's clothing reacting realistically to their physical movements. An example of what this could mean is if a character lifts their arms above their head, the bottom of their shirt could ride up and their sleeves could pull back from their wrists, instead of the clothing texture just stretching with the character model. The patent also describes the clothing procedurally bunching and stretching as it sits on a character model.

The patent’s description of the clothing layer describes it as a kind of ethereal texture that sits on the character model and is affected procedurally by the character's movement and animations. The predictive nature of the machine-learning system should also lower the processing power that is required to run the system. This patent will most likely be used for EA’s wide range of sports games such as Madden NFL, so that player’s jerseys will move realistically as the character does.

The deformable clothing will still act as a texture applied to a character model, rather than an individual cloth model itself. Deformable cloth models in video games are often a nightmare for clipping issues, unless handled with extreme care such as Spawn’s cape in Mortal Kombat 11.

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