By now most people have heard of the new mobile phone game, Pokemon-Go. Pokemon-Go uses cellphone GPS data to identify when you are in the mobile game and allow Pokémon characters to “magically appear” in areas around you (through your phone screen). As you move around, different types of Pokémon will appear for you to catch. The idea is to encourage players to travel around their geographic location in order to catch Pokémon. This game provides a glimpse into an approaching next wave of personal wellness and patient engagement applications that will likely incorporate augmented reality into the mainstream consciousness and imagination.
Augmented reality games provide a twist on geocaching. I have gone on geocaching trips with my kids and generally enjoyed the pleasure of getting eaten alive by mosquitos while looking under every rock in a quarter mile for a box filled with a couple of dirty action figures. I did this voluntarily as it was one of the many ways to increase physical activity and get my kids engaged.
Augmented reality games, such as Pokémon-go have showed innovation for the virtual world and mobile computing. These type of games have the ability to be a better option for the future of computing over virtual reality. If instances of augmented reality games utilize gaming to create interest, a game could be created to encourage physical movement to complete tasks. As time progresses we may see a rush to capitalize on augmented reality now that an application has shown how it can be integrated into our daily lives.
