Inc.
The Brilliant Thing Pokemon Go Can Teach Us About the Future of Augmented Reality
By: Nicolas Cole
In case you've been living under a rock, Pokémon Go just came out and every 90s baby just got hit in the face with their childhood.
I was headed to a meeting yesterday and I saw two college kids walking down the street, holding their iPhones in front of them, one yelling, "MY EGG IS HATCHING," and the other one jumping up and down.
I swear to you, I felt like I was in elementary school all over again--in the best way possible.
Here's the thing: We all knew virtual reality and augmented reality gadgets were coming. We know there is big money being spent to research it, to develop it. We already have 3D movies. It's going to be here on a massive scale sometime in the future. The question is How.
Pokémon Go just gave us a glimpse.
The perfect intersection between reality and virtual reality is the sweet spot that makes Pokémon Go so addictive. It takes the digital world and plants it firmly in this one. It does not ask you to sit in your basement with all the lights off--in fact, it does the opposite. Instead of the world living inside your screen, the screen acts as a gateway to the world around you. It adds virtual elements to everyday reality.
And that sounds incredibly fun.
I can't tell you the last time I saw two twenty year old guys with backwards hats on, walking around a neighborhood together, not on their way to a house party with beers in their hands. And yesterday, I saw packs upon packs of people, all roaming around with their cell phones, proclaiming to the outside world that they had found a new Pokémon.
This is what's been missing around the discussion of virtual and augmented reality. When the masses hear about this kind of virtual technology, they imagine that it means sitting in a dark room somewhere, being transported to another "world." And sure, in some cases that may absolutely be the case.
Pokemon Go proves that what the masses really want is interactive technology, that uses our tangible world as a springboard for the imaginary. The games that transform our cabs into spaceships, our cell phones into lightsabers, our geolocations into quest destinations are the ones that will rise to the top.
If you have any doubt that this is going to happen, I implore you to walk around your neighborhood for a bit.
Chances are you'll witness someone searching for a Pokemon.
