Welcome to the First Plug-In of Augmented Reality (AR) Matrix.
Pokemon Go – the Augmented Reality Game where Pokemon Characters are inserted into real Google Maps and Google Places. Only just released in USA, Australia and New Zealand yet the game is creating a craze and daze that points towards a whole new phenomenon. Augmented Reality meets Human Psychology.
Pokemon Go Players are literally looking and living in two Worlds.
One is the REAL WORLD seen through the eyes and experienced through physical body. Real people. Real objects. Cars, buildings, buses. All subject to the laws of physics. Gravity. Speed. Pain.
One is the AUGMENTED WORLD seen through the screen of a smartphone where Pokemon characters exist. Superimposed over Real World Locations. Pokestops and PokeGyms are virtual places where Pokemon characters hang out. Pokemon Hunters are on their trail. The phone beeps when they are near a Pokemon.
Pokemon Hunters are now everywhere in US, Australia and New Zealand. Causing crashes. Accidents. Unseen social phenomena. Creating $7.5 Billion in two days for Nintendo and Nitanic, the augmented reality game maker owned by Google.
There are upsides and downsides. Pokemon Players are having their personal data, geodata mined, stored and marketed to third parties. A whole new augmented reality economy is now available. Uber can offer transport to Pokemon Hunters. Air BnB can offer accommodation. Mobile Data for Smart Phones. Power supplies. MacDonalds, Pizza and Fastfood Chains can offer takeaways using drones for dropoff at Pokemon Gyms and Stops. Possible new tourism opportunities. Pokemon visits Hobbits. Other more R-Rated services. Drugs. Profiteering opportunities. Pokemon stores.
Many people will become addicted to it. Just like any game. Except this one is superimposed onto real life. I am not a Pokemon Player. But the Pokemon Players will be family, friends, workmates, people on the street. The car driver. We will all need to be aware of this phenomenon. It will affect all of us. Directly and indirectly.
Expect to see other AR Games appear. Tour of Duty. Game of Thrones. Then the launch of wearable lenses, virtual reality glasses and wi-fi connected vests/packs for the Pokemon player. People will dress up as their game character or avatar and plug themselves into the game. Just like in the Movie The Matrix. Become part of a Computer Simulated Game.
I hope that there are positive AR games where people are rewarded for positive behaviours. Picking up rubbish. Planting trees. Volunteering. Acts of Kindness. Saving the Vulnerable. Creating Paradise on Earth.
If Augmented Reality Games is a tool for changing human behaviour then we need to embed positive behaviours, codes and rewards in the programming that help to engineer greater human consciousness across the whole planet.
Just like in the Movie The Matrix, we will need to know how to operate in both the real world and the augmented reality-virtual world once this technology becomes more common-place between now 2016 – 2020.
“What is real? How do you define real? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what can you smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain” Morpheus from Move The Matrix.
It is time to enhance your Oracle Powers. Bend matter, space and time. Spiritual Martial Arts for movement and protection between realities. The difference between real and augmented will be minimal particularly when children are born into augmented reality. They will have no prior experience of life before augmented reality. The brain will not know the difference but the soul will. That is when people will need to know how to unplug. Switch off the Game. Go home.
