Pokemon Go is more than just AR
A few days ago, the augmented reality game Pokemon Go just became available in South and Central America and has continued to maintain its popularity despite some bugs. Many conversations about Pokemon Go try to unpack the future of virtual vs. augmented reality or lampoon the lengths to which users will go to catch Pokemon. The conversation that is most compelling is how Pokemon Go will affect our current hatred of technology.
What am I talking about?
With the recent advances in social technology, many people are worried about the loss of in-person interaction that cemented the world as we knew it. Even Millenials are self-conscious of their anti-(yet somewhat pro-)social behavior and have expressed their concerns through numerous avenues such as this viral video in 2013, or this other one in 2014. Both of these videos express common themes: isolation, fear of missing out, lack of presence, addiction, depression. Implicitly, the argument is that we are becoming less social and therefore taking on behaviors that are unnatural to the human experience; we live a life explored only in the mind and not experienced with our senses.
And the solution? To moderate our usage, to unplug as much as we can, and to convince others to do so through public, online shaming.
These answers, though appropriately urgent, are still limited to old or current social structures that either do not fit our current obsessions nor do they solve our problems at the root. I believe the first steps we need to take is to look to Pokemon Go for our bare-bones solution.
But we’re still using our phones…right?
Right, but the goal isn’t to bust out the pitchforks and set all of our iPhones on fire at the stake. Our goal should be to take advantage of existing and emerging technology to more adequately design an experience to feel natural, discussed at length in this TED talk. At its core, the talk is a gentle reminder that our technological creations are designed by people for people. Instead of fighting our vices by opting out, why not design the UI of our apps to get ourselves outside and keep our heads up?
Pokemon Go does this successfully in the following ways:
- The game requires you to explore. Instead of exploring an imagined world within the confines of a screen, Pokemon abound outside your front door.
- We’re encouraged to meet others. Social media is notorious for giving us the news we want to hear, and it’s refreshing to be given something we can share as opposed to debate or disregard.
- It breathes life into our brick-and-mortar communities. Running a business and want to cash in on the fervor? Use a lure and they will come.
Niantic, the company behind the app, is most likely mining and selling our data to advertisement companies and we should be wary of imbibing an app with the virtues of nature. But think about this: the great apps until Pokemon Go have made money by keeping you indoors and have spent money to figure out how to keep you there. Pokemon Go, however, disrupts this stale tradition with a breath of fresh air and I hope it won’t be the last one to do so.