Ease into Augmented Reality with Pokemon GO
Introduction
In the summer of 2016, the AR mobile game Pokémon GO swept through the nations, uniting users all over the world to catch Pokémon, train them for battle, and go on adventures with friends within their community. To demonstrate the popularity of this Android and Apple compatible app, Pokémon GO had 20 million active users within 7 days of its launch (“How Pokemon Go…”, n.d.). By July of 2016, this app had around 45 million daily players of all ages (Em, 2016). Additionally, in July 0f 2016, users spent more time in the Pokémon GO app than any other app—including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter (“How Pokemon Go…”, n.d.).
Created by The Pokémon Company and Niantic, this app lets users catch and train Pokémon, battle other trainers, and win badges. By implementing Augmented Reality, users can overlay the fictional Pokémon world over the real world. For avid fans of the Pokémon franchise, this allows a more interactive experience with a beloved world than a Nintendo Game Boy or DS. However, this app didn’t just appeal to this customer segment—Pokémon GO extended beyond the OG Pokémon fans because this game was easy to use and was integrated into daily life. It offered an excuse (or incentive) to venture outside, get some fresh air, meet up with friends, or make new ones via their mobile and AR powered adventure.
While Pokémon GO experienced a major popularity boom when it launched in 2016, Niantic isn’t finished with further developing the app. As of 2020, Niantic updated the AR capabilities to provide users with an even more realistic experience. Niantic incorporated a “reality blending” feature to the AR technology (Takahashi, 2020). This will enhance the virtual Pokémon’s appearance by making them look more 3-D (Takahashi, 2020).. Additionally, this feature will better incorporate the user’s real-life surroundings into the experience (Takahashi, 2020). For example, if a user is near a tree or another obstruction, the virtual Pokémon will respond as it would in real life—meaning, from certain angles, the Pokémon will be blocked or partially blocked by the real-life object (Takahashi, 2020).
Ultimately, Pokémon GO provides a fun and interactive experience for both avid Pokémon fans and people looking unique ways to be active and connect with others. It’s fun to lose yourself in a fantasy world—especially if you can do so with friends.
User Experience
Pokémon GO has a very intuitive User Interface—hence why it’s been popular among an array of age groups. The game begins asking the user to build their character. Players can design aspects of their avatar and choose their trainer name. They are guided by the NPC Professor Willow who informs the trainer about their mission: to complete to the Pokédex, which is a system that tracks and classifies information about Pokémon across the world. Players can fill out the Pokédex by catching Pokémon.
Players then get to catch their first Pokémon: Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle. For new fans of Pokémon, these names may sound slightly familiar. But for fans of the original, these are the original starter Pokémon of the Kanto region which will bring back nostalgic memories of playing the Pokémon versions of Blue, Red, Yellow, Fire Red, and Leaf Green.
The player is guided to turn on their camera to incorporate AR to catch Pokémon. This overlays the Pokémon as well as other elements (like digital grass where the Pokémon is hiding) onto the real world of the player through the view scope of the phone screen. This feature of the UI causes the game to be more immersive for the player, and therefore more enjoyable because they feel that they are actually a Pokémon trainer, trying to catch Pokémon to complete the Pokédex for Professor Willow.
After catching their first Pokémon, the trainer can view a map of their current location and see which Pokémon are within the area—so they can try to catch them. While the UI is mostly intuitive, certain aspects take practice and finesse to master. For example, throwing a PokéBall to catch a Pokémon requires users to “throw” by dragging their thumb across the bottom of the screen. This can be difficult for both new and more experienced users. But nevertheless, the challenge of catching a Pokémon adds to the fun and overall “stickiness” of the game. If everything were easy, users would get bored and move on.
Professor Willow pops up in the bottom right-hand corner to guide the user along on their journey and offer hints to guide them through the game. Additionally, push notifications inform the user of events happening in the area, like a raid. Ultimately, the app does a good job of guiding the user through the experience. However, there is no “right” way to use Pokémon GO. Some players may be content just with catching Pokémon. Others may want to participate in gym battles. And others may want to participate in community events through the app. Whatever the consumer is looking for, they can have fun using the Pokémon GO app, experience, adventure, meet others, and be immersed in a virtual world that seems to be more connected than ever to reality.
Future Uses
While users may not have been aware of the fact at the time, but Pokémon GO was a seamless transition into integrating AR into their lives. While Snapchat came out with AR filters in 2015, Pokémon GO was novel in 2016 because users could interact with the AR Pokémon filter on the screen—rather than just posing and smiling with virtual dog ears (“Snapchat’s History…”, 2021). Since 2016, Extended Reality has increased in progress and usability. Companies are currently working to make these experiences more seamless and accessible to people for daily use. For example, the start-up company Mojo Vision is developing AR contact lenses for people to experience augmented reality without the barrier of their smartphone (Marr, 2021).
Additionally, Facebook just announced their commitment to launching a metaverse, and as of late October 2021, has declared that they will rebrand the company as Metaverse Platforms, Inc. (NPR, 2021). The metaverse combines the virtual with the physical to create a connected immersive space (NPR, 2021). The metaverse will expand on XR technology in order to create an integrated experience, and the fact that people are becoming more and more familiar and accepting of virtual and augmented experiences will make the transition and implementation easier.
Ultimately, while the technology itself is interesting, to create an experience like Pokémon GO and beyond, it’s important that developers remember the story and the audience. The story must be captivating and speak to the human truth of the what the audience wants to achieve with the experience. At the end of the day, the audience doesn’t care about the pixels and code used to develop the specific Pokémon that appears on their screen. They want to go on an adventure, achieve their goals, meet and connect with friends, and lose themselves in the excitement.
Sources
Em, J. (2016, August 24). The Summer of Pokémon Go. HuffPost. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/the-summer-of-pokemon- go_b_11664970.
How Pokemon Go and Augmented Reality are Changing Marketing. Bannerflow. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.bannerflow.com/blog/pokemon-go-augmented-reality-changing-marketing/.
Marr, B. (2021, June 4). Future Predictions of How Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Will Reshape Our Lives. Forbes. Retrieved October 30, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/06/04/future-predictions-of-how-virtual-reality-and-augmented-reality-will-reshape-our-lives/?sh=29eb690f68b4.
NPR. (2021, October 28). Facebook wants to lean into the metaverse. Here's what it is and how it will work. NPR. Retrieved October 30, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/2021/10/28/1050280500/what-metaverse-is-and-how-it-will-work.
Snapchat's History: Evolution of Snapchat and Timeline (2021). BuyCustomGeofilters.com. (2021, January 13). Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.buycustomgeofilters.com/blog/snapchat-history-and-updated-timeline#:~:text=When%20did%20snapchat%20filters%20come,as%20filters)%20in%20January%202015.&text=When%20did%20snapchat%20streaks%20come,'Chat%202.0'%20app%20update.
Takahashi, D. (2020, May 26). Niantic's Latest AR Features Add Realism to Pokémon Go. VentureBeat. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://venturebeat.com/2020/05/26/niantics-latest-ar-features-add-realism-to-pokemon-go/.