Why Pokémon Go’s John Hanke says augmented reality is better than virtual reality
On the latest episode of Recode Decode, Niantic CEO John Hanke said he sees augmented reality as an important complement to his company’s guiding philosophy, that games should happen off the couch and outside of the home. In the case of Pokémon Go, players have to travel — including to places they may never have visited before — to find and catch all the Pokémon in the world.
"From the very beginning, our games were about encouraging people to go outside and see interesting places," Hanke said. "So [I have] mixed feelings about people looking at their screen while we’re trying to lead them out into the park where they can see the statue and trees and nature."
"Maybe at some point in the future there will be augmented reality glasses which overlay Pokémon and other things seamlessly into our environment," he added. "But those don’t exist yet, so we’re looking for those interim steps."
See the full story here: http://www.recode.net/2016/9/19/12965508/pokemon-go-john-hanke-augmented-virtual-reality-ar-recode-decode-podcast