augmented reality gaming<\/a>.<\/p>\nPervasive games are those that blur the line between the physical world and the game world. Location-based games are aware of players’ geographical positions and adapt the gameplay to their context.<\/p>\n
They often rely on technologies such as GPS and WiFi signals to pinpoint player\u2019s location and combine this information with metadata about nearby services and landmarks.<\/p>\n
Augmented reality games blend digital content into the real world, either with a projector (Microsoft\u2019s RoomAlive turns any room into an augmented space) or by rendering graphics onto the video feed from a camera (PlayStation\u2019s Wonderbook: Book of Spells creates a magical experience around a physical book).<\/p>\n
Though games similar to Pok\u00e9mon GO already existed with moderate success, only the power of a popular franchise like Pok\u00e9mon could bring them into the mainstream.<\/p>\n
The game was developed by Niantic, Inc., a Google spin-off with previous success in location-based mobile games and quickly skyrocketed to the top of the download charts.<\/p>\n
Within a day of its release last week, the app topped iTunes charts and bumped up Nintendo\u2019s share prices.<\/p>\n
The game was initially launched only in Australia and New Zealand, following on to the United States, but eager players elsewhere have found workarounds for these location limitations.<\/p>\n
Warning! Wild Pok\u00e9mon in the area<\/h3>\n
As with any piece of software, the game did ship with its own technical issues, such as bugs, glitches and server connection problems, but these are likely to be solved as updates and patches are rolled out.<\/p>\n
Other problems are inherent to the technologies it uses. Due to the long time the screen has to be on, combined with intense use of the camera, 3D rendering and GPS, a Pok\u00e9mon hunt can quickly drain your phone\u2019s battery.<\/p>\n
But because it is an inherently social and outdoors game, it also presents a whole new category of problems. The game requires players to walk around while dividing their attention between the phone and their surroundings, so it increases the risk of injury.<\/p>\n
Several features of the app are location-dependent, requiring players to be physically present at that location to trigger a game event.<\/p>\n
Whereas most of the time, this offers players an opportunity to explore and discover new spots in their cities, it also creates awkward situations.<\/p>\n
A police station in Darwin was tagged as a Pok\u00e9Stop (a landmark where players can get resources to capture more Pok\u00e9mon), causing officers to publish a warning on their Facebook page that it was not necessary to actually enter the building to obtain in-game benefits.<\/p>\n
The way in which the game tags important locations has also caused problems for the unlucky owners of properties inadvertently designated as in-game \u201cgyms\u201d, causing players to trespass and loiter.<\/p>\n
In its choice of city landmarks, the game\u2019s algorithm often chooses delicate or inappropriate locations.<\/p>\n
We compiled the Tumblr page Pok\u00e9Morbid with a series of examples, including war memorials and mausoleums tagged as \u201cgyms\u201d, and Pok\u00e9mon suddenly appearing at funerals and hospitals.<\/p>\n
Even more sinister events have been reported in the media. In Wyoming, a teenager playing the game stumbled upon a dead body floating in a river and in Missouri, armed robbers used the app to lure victims into a trap.<\/p>\n
Games for the next generation<\/h3>\n
Despite the hiccups along the way, Pok\u00e9mon GO has successfully brought pervasive gaming into the mainstream.<\/p>\n
Whereas it is unlikely that we will start seeing pervasive versions of every beloved game from our childhoods, this game really highlights the potential for this technology.<\/p>\n
Upcoming augmented reality headsets such as the Microsoft Hololens have the potential to make such games even more immersive.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, we can enjoy rediscovering our cities while we \u201ccatch’em all\u201d. Just be careful not bump into tree as you try to capture that Pikachu.<\/p>\n
Eduardo Velloso is a research fellow at the Microsoft Research Centre for Social Natural User Interfaces at the University of Melbourne.<\/em><\/p>\nMarcus Carter is a SocialNUI research fellow at the University of Melbourne.This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.<\/em><\/p>\nFollow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, <\/em>LinkedIn <\/em>and <\/em>SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Eduardo Velloso and Marcus Carter In 2014, as part of its traditional April Fool\u2019s pranks, Google released a video in which<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,27,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}