User:Howrad/sandbox/Pokémon Go AR

Pokémon Go AR

Not the traditional definition of "Augmented Reality"

Pokémon Go without AR

File:Pokémon Go with AR mode turned off.png

This is how the majority of players experience the game, with AR mode turned off.

File:Pokémon Go with camera permissions turned off.png

This shows the weaknesses of AR mode, as the mode still tries to work with the Android camera permission denied, but shows only a white screen.

Pokémon Go AR mistakes

File:Pinsir with shadow over vertical surface.jpg

Pinsir has a horizontal shadow cast on the vertical surface of a coffee shop counter.

File:Fearow with shadow on wall corner.jpg

Fearow has a horizontal shadow cast on a vertical wall, and that shadow incorrectly crosses onto the floor.

Most experts in gaming and augmented reality agree that even though the developers market Pokémon Go as an augmented reality game, it contains some but not all aspects of an augmented reality game, and the primary genre is better described as a location-based game or a pervasive game. The majority of players turn AR mode off, because it makes the game easier and increases battery life, and are therefore not experiencing augmented reality at all. The majority of reliable secondary sources call it augmented reality, simply because the primary developer (Niantic) calls it that, and the secondary sources did not consult a subject-matter expert to confirm. The secondary developer (pokemon.com), calls it a "Real World Adventure," with no mention of the word "augmented." If Pokémon Go were truly an augmented reality app, it would have most of the following features:

• It would use information from the camera image to position a Pokémon in the "real world." Currently, it uses only information from the gyroscope and compass. Thus, as shown in the screenshot on the right, it still tries to use AR mode with the Android camera permission denied. In this mode, the Pokémon will still move onscreen according to the gyroscope and compass.
• It would be possible to see wild Pokémon from the side and behind. Currently, if a Pokémon is sitting on a chair, and you move the camera to the side or rear of that chair, the Pokémon will magically rotate to face you, without moving his feet.
• Pokémon sizes would be proportional to the real world. Every Pokémon you capture has a height. If a Pokémon is 1.61m tall, and you try to capture it next to a person who is also 1.61m tall, the Pokémon and the person should appear to be nearly the same height.
• There would be no horizontal shadows on vertical surfaces. On the right are two screenshots showing Pinsir and Fearow with horizontal shadows on vertical surfaces. Fearow's shadow also incorrectly crosses onto the floor.

Some subject-matter experts respond that calling Pokémon Go augmented reality really has nothing to do with the camera augmentation. They say that the augmentation happens in the brain, not in the technology. Players experience layers of reality overlaid atop what they perceive to be the actual physical landscape.