For the few of you I see still playing Pokemon Go, you may have noticed that Sinclair boasts quite a few stops and that our welcome sign is indeed a gym—an area for users to compete for ownership at. For those who no longer play or those who never had an interest in playing, you may have read article after article about how Pokemon Go was the worst thing in the world and responsible for all our nation’s problems as per usual. That’s the kind of world we live in.
That same world has an increasing number of investors interested in developing both augmented reality, known as AR and virtual reality, or VR technologies.
Back in 2013 I was able to demo Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset that allowed users to dive straight into a video game based on a light novel that was about people diving into a world of virtual reality gaming. Honestly, it was pretty meta to try that in real life.
Thankfully unlike the plot mechanism of virtual reality, I was not trapped in a world full of monsters for long. At the time, I can say I was both impressed and underwhelmed.
I was impressed we had the technology to create such a game. To look around the virtual world and appear to be somewhere instead of on a stage looking quite dumb to crowds around me was surreal.
At that same time, to give my honest critique, VR technology was not advanced enough to the point where I could see it being all the rage. The next frontier? Perhaps, but we have such high standards due to the sheer amount of time two dimensional video games have had to progress.
The graphics, controls and operating systems have only continued to advance for two dimensional gaming. The virtual reality seemed almost retro. I could imagine the potential, but the state of virtual reality just left me wanting more from it and not necessarily more of it yet.
However, Pokemon Go and other games have utilized a combination of GPS, WiFi and mobile capacities to give us an AR craze. Hordes of people looked ridiculous running through cities chasing down creatures that don’t exist outside AR.
Over the Summer, post Pokemon Go release I was in San Francisco and at the Univeristy of the Pacific. I saw entire crowds so excited and running in certain directions, out visiting landmarks and public art, enjoying outdoor life—all while using technology.
Here the difference becomes clear. Conceptually, AR gaming like catching little monsters around town was successful because it was engaging and the expectations were pretty laid out. Were we able to catch pokemon? Generally when the servers were up, which at first was quite a rare experience, we were happy to.
With VR, I think there’s this barrier of expectations that AR doesn’t face. AR pong might be crazy and more popular than VR pong. Augmented reality also tends to have an easier time being inclusive to the public, as it doesn’t require expensive, exclusive technologies
Oculus has since broadened and developed further technologies that have begun to introduce the public to a future full of virtual reality, but will users be happier to try and go around the boundaries of real world gaming or accept some limitations with AR?
Barton Kleen
Executive Editor