Pokémon Go is all people seem to be talking about recently.
While it was released in the US, people in Europe were finding any way possible to download it. Now it has been released, you cannot walk down the street without seeing people trying to catch a Pokémon
or battling it out at the gym.
What is so special
about Pokémon go?
Well although augmented reality has been around in various
forms for years this is the first time that it has been created as a game that
is available to the masses on such a large scale. For the less savvy of us,
what is it? In simple terms it is a technology that superimposes a
computer-generated image on a user’s view of real life creating a merged
world. The concept is mind blowing and pretty exciting as this will create an
unparalleled future of opportunities. For example brands around the world have
the potential to fully emerge themselves in a customer’s life. Imagine you're Nike and you could allow people to try on a pair of computer generated trainers in real life? And then even purchase them?
What does this mean?
Although the concept of augmented reality has the potential
to unlock many exciting opportunities, I wonder about the implications. Pokémon Go has
literally created a mass of zombies, people walking around the streets with
their heads down and bumping into each other - there was even that one person who
fell in a lake! It is limiting human interaction and making people less aware
of their surroundings (although we cannot completely blame Pokémon Go for that, after all they do warn you!).
Frustrations aside there is obviously the demand for this
kind of technology and it is going to be exciting to see how brands start to integrate augmented
reality into their marketing strategies.