Augmented Reality
How is Augmented Reality Utilized in Pokemon Go? - 2/13/2017
2016 was the year Pokémon GO well and truly hit the public and was easily considered the most popular mobile game/game that came out all year, and we were just past the first half of the year; so that alone is quite the feat. Pokémon GO was one of the very few mobile games that was accessible to players all around the world; regardless of whether they play video games on a regular basis or not at all.
It was guaranteed that during those first few weeks, you could pretty much have a chat with anyone you came across, be they family, friends or even complete strangers and if you brought up Pokémon GO they would easily be able to carry on the conversation. The game was the smash-hit of the summer and it kept its popularity for a number of months throughout the year, and providing that Niantic keep up with regular updates, the game is going to continually get better throughout the years.
Before delving into the specifics of Pokémon GO and its AR systems, let’s take a quick look at how augmented reality works in the first place. Similar to how VR works in some ways, it’s designed to feign the user’s brain into thinking that they are taking part in this video game world. Even though the player might logically be aware that it’s not real, the whole fun comes in playing along with the setting – in this case it’s Pokémon in the real world – a dream that gamers all around the world have always wanted!
AR uses the computer systems that the developer has implemented to allow the user to use their device in a real world prospect, and yet receive in-game responses to their actions. In regards to Pokémon GO, these actions involve you finding Pokémon in your own environment, be it at work or at home and use your personal environment as a sort of battleground to capture them. The way it does such a thing is by making use of a number of different systems: with the main 3 being computer graphics, a camera, and a GPS. All 3 of these are typically found in modern smartphones, something that’s practically a necessity in today’s modern day world.
There are a number of ways AR is actually utilised in Pokémon GO, so let’s get started with the most obvious one: capturing Pokémon! The main attraction for almost any Pokémon game is actually getting the chance to capture them and in GO it was the entire driving force behind the idea. Whenever you come across one of the creatures you can choose to try and capture them and one of the main ways of doing that is by making use of the AR camera that you can choose to turn on and off. Keeping it off may be a little bit boring, but at times it’s necessary depending on where you are; for instance - dark areas at night would be considerably more difficult to play the game with the AR camera on.
If you make the choice to keep AR on, you can look around with your mobile, as if you were taking a picture or a video and locate the Pokémon on your device. Sometimes, depending on the Pokémon you’re about to capture, they can be in certain special locations around you; such as a flying Pokémon being more elevated off the ground rather than being stood there on the floor. From there you can throw a Poke Ball at the Pokémon and then pretty much hope and or pray that the ball shakes 3 times to say that you’ve captured the new Pokémon and have added them to your team.
The next biggest use of AR in Pokémon GO takes the form of the map of your local surroundings. With the addition of AR, when you walk around in the real world, your character would move about the virtual map whilst on the lookout for Pokémon. Thanks to the addition of AR it allows you match your movements with your avatar, all to bring you that much closer to experiencing true to form augmented reality.
One of the last main uses of the AR system that immediately comes to mind is in the form of Pokémon gym battles. You’re eventually going to come near a gym, and the chances of it not being currently owned by your selected team are definitely a possibility. To combat this you can take a team of 6 Pokémon into the gym to try your best to take it down a peg or two and while you do have the option to turn it off beforehand, you can battle it out completely in AR. It works very similarly to how capturing Pokémon does and puts them into your own personal environment to give them the chance to duke it out where you may be. Let’s just say this; there are not many games that will give you the opportunity pit Pikachu against Gyarados inside the London underground.
In many ways Pokémon GO is a great game and in some ways it is also a flawed game to say the least, but what you can’t deny is that the implementation of the AR nature of the game makes it what it is; hence some of its incredible success.
