Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Pokemon Go or Go Away?

Doug:
So, maybe we can avoid talking about anything depressing this week. Have your heard of Pokemon Go? Have you tried it? How would you describe it to someone who hasn't seen it?


David:
You might find me a bit weird (perhaps I should say, weirder), but I really don't play any video or computer games. Neither do the kids. One of the twins is playing The Legend of Zelda on my vintage GameBoy (1986) right now, and the kids do have some game apps loaded on my phone, like Stupid Zombies, and Angry Birds, but that's about it. One of my favorite game apps the kids enjoy is Scribblenauts. When they were younger, we had multiple teaching apps that they could use. For the most part, I believe them to be a big time-waster.

Doug:
I, too, am not a game player. (But as my roommates will attest, I played some games in college, but didn't inhale. Just a little Rogue.) But my wife and kids are game players. The kids are about 5 to 10 years older than your kids. Between my two kids and wife, they know everything about all games, from World of Warcraft to Candy Crush. For them, games are relaxing, a release of stress.



David:
I did a bit of research, and Pokemon Go is a fascinating take on the video game. The attention it has spawned is surely going to force the gaming world to take note, and drive a new generation of interactive, real-world games development. The whole idea of immersion is not new, but rather than introducing your self into the game's world, bringing the game characters into our world seems a novel idea.

Doug:
The Pokemon Go game has already had a pretty big impact in our house. Check out this note left by our daughter this past week:


"Gone for a walk! Gonna find more Pokemon than you :)" This is weird: our daughter is out walking about our neighborhood.

David:
I've heard quite a few proponents praising Pokemon Go for getting kids out of their house. Of course, a house fire would have the same effect...

I think this is likely more than just a passing fad, although I'm not sure exactly how other games would reproduce this idea. Ghostbusters seems an easy choice to copy the exact game (find the missing ghosts and capture them...), but where do you see the technology heading?

Doug:
The technical term for the Pokemon technology is "augmented reality." Pokemon Go is definitely the beginning of much more to come in this space.

There have been some reported downsides to Pokemon Go, such as this story of a man crashing into a police car:

https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/1111889695567820/



David:
And just when we had started to make some inroads to get people to stop texting while driving.

Doug:
Actually, you have to be moving at 10 MPH or less, or else you can't catch the Pokemon.

David:
Great. Teens driving around town at 10 MPH. Maybe this is a good thing.

More worrisome are the reports of gangs of muggers hanging out at "Pokespots", the locations where you can find and catch the game denizens. People playing the game are so engrossed in their phones, that they aren't paying attention to their surroundings. That makes them easy pickings for criminals.


Doug:
That sounds a bit over the top. But of course people need to pay attention.

http://www.sbnation.com/2016/7/24/12265552/iowa-lineman-faith-ekakitie-pokemon-go-police



David:
One of the hot spots in Indiana is within a cemetery, which was causing quite a bit of grief for families trying to hold funerals, with people running around shouting about fictitious monsters. The cemetery director has contacted the company to encourage them to move the spot to another location. The company made a poor decision in this instance. But the idea to get people out into their communities is a good one, and certainly has some benefits, especially for young people who would otherwise be sitting at home.

Doug:
If anyone would like to catch Pokemon at my funeral, I fully support that. But remember kids, always get permission first!

David:
Do you see some key differences between this technology and other tech and games that are already out there? These articles describes how new "augmented reality" may find its way into business applications much faster than virtual reality. Some of the examples they give are easy to imagine.

[Doug: This link may not work. I never could get it to load, and had to restart by browser. Copy and paste URL at your own peril:]

 http://www.cityam.com/246034/prepare-augmented-reality-workplace-tech-behind-pokemon-go

(David: The link works for me. Maybe you're on a government watch list...)

Here's another link about the business benefits of Pokemon Go.

https://www.tenfold.com/pokemon-go-business-lure

Doug:
Combining generated images on top of actual images can be quite useful. Image the medical profession if you could "see" into the body through soft and hard tissue? Imagine home design where the plans of a remodel could be seen in the real world. Imagine a projected image onto a wall to see what was behind it. You can already look at the night's sky using a star map app (like Google's Sky Map). A windshield in a car would make for a great "heads up" display. Many of the technical problems have been solved, and now software designers can be creative in their uses.

David:
Whatever happens, I think our world will continue to change due the the innovation of individuals as the technology continues to develop. Of course, there will always be those who use the technology for harmful purposes, but our world will continue to open up in new ways to make our lives better.

As long as the government butts out.

Doug:
How about we let the government butt in when we need them? Dogmatic blanket statements about "keeping the government out" make you seem like you don't actually care about other people.

David:
In order to care for other people means you need to support big government? The reason I want the government to butt out is that I do care about people, and their dreams, and their ideas for new products that make all of our lives better.  Several recent studies have noted that more than half of all Americans have had an idea for stating their own business in the past year, but less than 1%  actually tried it. This is much lower than in previous decades. The number one reason they gave up? "It's just too complicated because of red tape." Here's an article that backs that up:

http://smallbiztrends.com/2015/01/rising-small-business-regulation.html

Perhaps I digress. However, it is a very close tangent to the current discussion, and how this new technology will find its way into our lives.

Doug:
Now, Go catch some Pokemon! If you run out of Pokeballs, you'll be in trouble!

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