Unless you’ve been vacationing somewhere far off the grid for the last week, you’ve undoubtedly heard about “Pokemon Go,” the latest craze bringing magical animated creatures to life in the real world, or at least on the screens of our phones. The mobile game was downloaded more than 20 million times in its first week on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The average user is spending 33 minutes a day playing the game, compared with 22 minutes on Facebook or 18 minutes on Snapchat. Thousands of players are meeting up in public places, and dogs are worn out from going on long walks to look for Pikachu.
So what does it all mean? Is this just another silly kids’ game, even one being co-opted by adults? Is it just another reason for us to walk around staring at our phones, which we do too much already? Or is it the first mass popular adoption of augmented reality, the technology that has promised to deliver so much but hadn’t yet truly found its use until now?
The internet has always been about making connections. Social media connected people even more — locally, regionally and around the world. The biggest problem about these networked connections was they were virtual — so you could stay comfortably nestled at home and shop on Amazon, chat with friends over Facebook, tweet your thoughts to thousands of followers or play “Star Wars Battlefront” with legions of fans online around the globe. The connections are real, but they lead to less engagement with the real world. And many times local businesses suffer, because consumer activity has moved online, leading to lower foot traffic.
Facebook has become as reliable a mass media delivery platform as broadcast television was in its heyday. Twitter drives the global conversation around many subjects, including sports and politics. Soon they will be streaming live video of the political conventions and NFL games. Snapchat has captured millennials with disappearing pictures, flower crowns and puppy dog filters. Our lives are mediated by mobile phones, for better and for worse. We carry around in our pockets and purses more computing power than what it took to put men on the moon. For all intents and purposes, we are cyborgs — part human, part machine.
The beauty of “Pokemon Go” (and all of the augmented reality games and apps that are sure to follow) is it will put you on your feet and out hunting Charmander, Squirtles and Poliwags in your neighborhood. Social savvy restaurateurs and tourism destinations have begun to lure “Pokemon” players with special offers. Just check the Instagram feeds of Crystal Bridges Museum, South on Main, the Arkansas Arts Center and even Rock Town Distillery. The hardest part of the consumer funnel has often been that last step along the way getting customers to your door. This is why Wal-Mart has door-buster specials to get bargain-crazed shoppers swarming the aisles. It’s why casinos host concerts of bands popular with their gaming demographic. It’s why Nintendo will soon be selling sponsored PokeStops and PokeGyms to businesses seeking extra traffic, just as you can buy a sponsored geofilter on Snapchat.
Digging deeper into “Pokemon Go,” it’s also a gold mine for data. In fact, more conspiracy-minded friends have pointed out the unusually broad privacy waiver, and the level of access you give when signing in with your Google account. But I’m a technological optimist, and believe that the data will be used for good — it’s how we target our advertising so you see just what you might be interested in rather than a lot of clutter. Others have pointed out that the founder of Niantic Labs, which powers “Pokemon Go,” previously founded the internet mapping company Keyhole, which was bought by Google to start Google Earth. By accessing the cameras of millions of phones, could it be stitching together a picture one level deeper than that created by satellite photos and Google mapping cars?
So what’s next? Is “Pokemon Go” just a fad? Most likely, but it’s a harbinger of the future where digital space co-exists with physical space, where interactivity leads to real activity. Most of the recent tech world buzz has been around virtual reality and Oculus Rift, where the digital replica replaces the actual world. Augmented reality blends both worlds together. And gets you outside to take a walk around the block. Maybe not exactly what Henry David Thoreau had in mind at Walden Pond, but it’s still a connection to nature.
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Ross Cranford is a partner and social media strategist at Little Rock advertising agency Cranford Co. Email him at Ross@CranfordCo.com. |