Pokémon Go – How to make it truly Augmented Reality game? SLAM SDK!
Hi!
Back in 2012 my company Augmented Pixels created a prototype of the game, which repeated the mechanics and the concept of Pokémon Go, however, during the testing phase we found out that “walking gameplay” is perceived more as an additional difficulty than as an advantage.
Characters are constantly jumping and appeared here and there due to poor GPS accuracy (6-7 meters).
Nevertheless, even a complete rejection of GPS-based augmented reality games and game transfer into a virtual world, which is only “activated” when a specific coordinate is approached, did not provide the expected feedback.
Today, a combination of a great brand and very viral marketing definitely ensured a great start to Pokémon Go, but according to the report there is a decline of usage over time.
The main problem certainly lies in the fact that Pokémon Go is not a real Augmented Reality game, and therefore its interface does not look natural.
The real breakthrough for Pokémon Go would be, for example, the use of technology such as visual SLAM SDK with high accuracy of a few centimeters, which would make it possible to place characters in a real situation.
It might look like this:
First, a map of the place where a 3D character will be placed is created.
After that, the character is placed inside the map, allowing you to fit it into reality with an accuracy of a centimeter (both outdoors and indoors).
Placement of a 3D character in the 3D environment will help to achieve the maximum realism of some elements of a multiplayer when multiple users will be able to play with the same character simultaneously.
Sounds very futuristic? Not really, this is already a reality.
Well, Pokémon Go has already written its name in the history of games and Augmented Reality as it became the most popular game that taught users a completely new techniques of playing a game; it even partially taught users how to utilize Augmented Reality.
Sincerely,
Vitaliy Goncharuk
CEO of Augmented Pixels