‘Pokémon Go’ is Where I Draw the Line on “Augmented Reality”
[Philip Lelyveld comment: Pokeman Go sounds like it is less than expected. Just proximity and floating objects - suitable for the Google Glass!]
The thing is, in order to ‘augment’ reality, the system doing the augmentation needs to know something about your reality; like how Snapchat knows the shape of your face so that it can augment it in interesting ways. But Pokémon Go knows nothing more about your reality than almost any other app on your phone.
Because of this, you’ll frequently find Pokémon floating superimposed into walls or other objects in a way that doesn’t make sense, with their scale totally misrepresented against a backdrop that doesn’t suit their size at all. When you walk toward the Pokémon they’ll simply slide along the ground at a fixed distance from you, passing through whatever real world obstacles might be in their way. This isn’t augmenting reality, it’s merely conflicting with it.
Aside from the superimposed camera view, which you can (and likely will) opt to turn off with a small button at the top right of the app, the only other argument to be made for Pokémon Go as an AR app is that in order to find Pokémon and other game objectives (like gyms), you have to physically move around the world (a quick stroll up the street might reveal a few).
But unlike the CGI video, you won’t find any Pokémon hiding behind trees or battling atop bridges. You’ll simply be looking at the map on your smartphone (which takes the form of a stylized version of the sorts of roadmaps you’d find on Google Maps) and occasionally see a Pokémon pop up on the screen. Then, whether you’re 10 feet for 50 feet from them, just tap on your smartphone and you’ll be engaged into the superimposed camera view to capture the creature.
Pokémon Go could be an amazing AR app, if only they delivered anything remotely like what was shown in their audacious CGI video. Until then, let’s not muddle the definition of augmented reality...
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/pokemon-go-is-where-i-draw-the-line-on-augmented-reality/?utm_source=Road+to+VR+Daily+News+Roundup&utm_campaign=339c858fa3-RtoVR_RSS_Daily_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e2e394ad33-339c858fa3-168170213