Augmented Pocket Monsters
Pokémon Go and Mixed Reality: The Immersive Pokémon Experience
Using my Samsung Galaxy S5, I await for my Pokémon Go app [developed by Niantic] to load. I am introduced with a loading screen with a realistic-looking picture of several Pokémon; looks like fan art. Music is blaring in the background as a warning at the bottom reminds the user to be aware of their surroundings. As the game loads another warning pop-up reads, “Be courteous to members of real-world communities as you play Pokémon go”. This implies No Trespassing.
“Be courteous to members of real-world communities as you play Pokémon go.”
Right off the bat I am put into a virtual representation of the real world; it is a virtual map of the real world…my real-world surroundings and landmarks. I have an avatar of a Pokémon trainer, it is placed on the map and follows my movement as I start to walk around.
My phone vibrates and a Pokémon appears, it is an Aipom. I click on the Pokémon and it takes me to a first-person viewing screen where I am looking at the Pokémon in real-time. The Aipom appears virtual, while the surrounding environment is of what I see in real life! This is the essense of an Augmented Reality (AR). I use my berries to make it more docile, throw the Pokéball at it a few times and… Boom! I caught it.
Since I have caught it once before, it is not added to the Pokédex. Instead, It takes me to Aipom’s detailed menu screen where I have options to level up, evolve, or favorite it. You can even change its name!
It now loads into my Pokémon ledger where all the Pokémon I have caught are stored. I can feed them candies to help them level up and evolve. I get more candies from catching Pokémon. So far, I only have 123/300 Pokémon.
When I walk, my steps are calculated to hatch eggs. These hatch into different Pokémon depending on how many kilometers I need to walk. While I am walking, I can encounter Pokéstops, which are real life businesses; but in the virtual world, they are Pokéstops where I collect more Pokéballs, as well as special power ups like potions, incense, lure modules, etc. As I venture, I also encounter stadiums, where I can virtually battle other trainers and their Pokémon. The nearest stadium to me is located at a hospital in real-life.
Who’s that Pokémon?!
People who grew up in the 90’s are drawn to this game, as it creates a sense of nostalgia. These kids [including myself] watched the original series, collected cards, and played the Nintendo Gameboy videogames. This revamp of Pokémon peaked interest in not only long-time enthusiasts, but also a new generation of players. It is so user friendly and interesting that older people (I mean like in their seventies ‘old’) can be caught catching these little monsters in real-time.
Extended Reality (XR) Implementation
This game is an example of an Augmented Reality (the little virtual monsters are placed in a real-life environment), as well as Mixed Reality (virtual maps where the streets are actually streets and building placement is where buildings are in real life). It is an app designed for mobile handheld devices. Its uses AR and Location to bring reality to life.
Supporting Technologies
Pokémon Go uses a variety of technologies including: GPS location, Haptic Feedback (vibrates when Pokémon are nearby), Avatar or virtual personal character the user creates to represent themselves. To dive deeper, I will explain the more complicated technology this app uses.
For augmented reality to function smoothly and realistically, the mobile device requires a powerful Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) consisting of an accelerometer and a gyroscope. The gyroscope is responsible for the tracking of the device in real-time (the IMU used by Pokemon Go is provided by Bosch Sensortec).
“The combination of extreme accuracy, strong processing performance, and low power consumption makes the Bosch Sensortec IMU an indispensable part of modern mobile devices…dreams and ideas are “augmented” on to our environment to become the new exciting reality”
Pokémon Go also harnesses the micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) or “pressure” sensors, found in phones. The phone’s optical image stabilization (OIS) and electronic image stabilization (EIS), are enabled by MEMS sensors and help provide a sharp real-looking image.
These sensors help with image stabilization, tilt detection, gestures, and activity recognition through algorithms and measurements through precise data processing.
Pokémon Go and Success
This old school idea from the 90’s, of catching pocket monsters, has now emerged into real life…a childhood dream come true. The step feature is a good touch to help people be active and walk about the community. Visiting the different Pokéstops and stadium makes for a free adventure where the user can be submerged into another world. I think implementing this as a mobile app was also smart. [Almost] Everyone has a mobile device. The convenience of having this on a phone makes it more playable and accessible. I also think introducing this app on a phone and using the technology that phones already encompass is very smart. The GPS on phones and IMU’s (as well as MEM’s) and other technology is being utilized and developed to appropriately interact with the user. It doesn’t take a special machine, or the purchase of a new device. It utilizes the technology we already have and brings the game to our fingertips.
Improvements?
I think Pokémon Go could do with getting rid of a lot of the pop-ups. I mainly play the game to walk around and find and catch Pokémon, as well as hatch eggs. I don’t really care about daily tasks or awards. I don’t care about what Professor ‘what’s his face has to say’ and I’m not interested in “Nearby raids”. Also, when the app is closed and notifications are turned off I still get notifications about nearby raids. The pops ups are distracting and get in the way.
S.L.A.M (Simultaneous Location and Mapping)
Pokemon Go uses 6 degrees of freedom (head and body movement), as well as GPS to determine accurate tracking and location of an object. This is where Simultaneous Location and Mapping (S.L.A.M.) comes into play. S.L.A.M is the use of sensors in the device to help map out the unknown surrounding and physical environments. This relies not only on sensors in the device but GPS tracking as well. In Pokemon Go, we experienced not only static or fixed positions of objects in the environment, but we also experienced a real-life world tracking experience, where we could be tracked and mapped in the real world enviroment. For example Pokestops where fixed positions in real-life on a digital map, but the Pokémon that would show up randomly and are tacked by our proximity to them.
