How Pokemon Go is Influencing Tech

No one saw Pokemon Go coming, and now no one can avoid it.

The small app game has become a juggernaut that has influenced everything from culture to business operations. It has made a huge impact on the marketing world, showing brands just what’s possible even with a simple app.

The game’s unique use of augmented reality has also shown what is possible with technology. Here are a few ways that the game is influencing tech (including the potential it shows):

Entertainment

Over the years, technology has improved significantly so that we no longer have black-and-white movies or simple line drawing animation.

Now, we have graphics that seem so real that you expect the dinosaur to jump right out of the screen during the chase scene. The picture is so crisp that you can almost feel the same breeze that is rustling across the leaves and the tiny hairs on the caterpillars and flies.

Augmented reality doesn’t necessarily improve the quality of the picture, but it makes for a more immersive experience that brings that scene into your world. Pokemon Go not only includes virtual items on the physical world, such as different types of Pokemon, but it also creates virtual spaces from physical ones, such as PokeStops and PokeGyms.

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The game has shown that there is vast potential for other mobile games and apps. Not only can augmented reality help to create a more engaging game experience, but it can also help businesses better connect with customers through their games.

For example, augmented reality could easily be used in a game that helps visitors at Disney theme parks find beloved characters on the park map. They could appear just like the Pokemon characters do on the game. The park could use the game to reward visitors with special perks, like an extra fast pass to cut the line on a popular ride or a discount at the gift shop.

There are numerous ways that Disney could use such a game to drive purchases. It could make characters appear at restaurants or shops during slow hours when it needs extra sales, and it could pair those appearances with special discounts or other promotions at the locations. It could make rare characters appear only at specific parks, which could generate multiple-park ticket sales.

There are endless possibilities for businesses of all types to use augmented reality games in similar ways to drive sales and user engagement.

The travel industry, movie studios, chambers of commerce, museums and more can also take advantage of these opportunities to drive sales.

Healthcare

The technology used in Pokemon Go can be used for much more than entertaining or marketing. It could save a life.

Apps that use augmented reality can be used for a variety of healthcare applications. For example, they could be used to help people find the location of a defibrillator in an emergency. Similarly, it could be used to find the location of a fire alarm, fire extinguisher, or other emergency device. Instead of just showing these items on a map, it could include a bright graphic over the actual location through the lens of your camera.

Other potential uses include helping seniors remember to take their medication or to find the location of their pill bottle. The app could guide them to the location through their phone camera, and users could keep track of what pills they have taken for the day by capturing a pill just like they would a Pokemon.

Apps could turn healthcare treatment into a kind of game. Kids and teenagers who are resisting taking their medication could get points for taking their pill or shot at a certain time or win special rewards for taking it a certain number of days in a row. They could win special items for taking additional measures, such as drinking enough water or doing enough exercise.

The augmented reality portion of the game could turn the house into a game map. Maybe they have to go to different areas to do exercises or get enough sleep, and so on.

There are numerous potential applications for both personal healthcare monitoring and professional healthcare management. People can use it for their own treatment, and nurses and doctors can use it to encourage patients to get the right care.

Pokemon Go has not only shown the potential for augmented reality technology but also for marketing through apps and games. The technology shows that marketing should go beyond in-app advertisements and should instead focus on how apps and games can be merged with the real world.

If you are feeling especially motivated by the game’s success, you might even consider developing your own augmented reality game or app for your business or your niche. You could make money on the app itself or through the sales it helps generate for your business.

Author: Jonny Rosen

Jonny Rosen
Content Manager & Editor-In-Chief at CodeFuel by Perion.
Jonny has years of content based, tech wizardry under his belt . He specializes in user engagement, monetization platforms, hungry start ups, SMB/B2B hubs and all things Minogue.
For more information, visit www.codefuel.com and the CodeFuel blog for even... View full profile ›

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How Pokemon Go is Influencing Tech