( Estimated reading time: 3 min )

Augmented Reality (AR) game – Pokemon Go set the world of casual gaming on fire literally overnight back in July but the craze was fairly short lived and many have lost interest to move onto the next hottest trend.

Part of the reason why Pokemon Go was so successful is because of the Pokemon brand itself and how popular the card game was with 90’s kids. To catch Pokemon in real life was a dream come true for anyone that voraciously watched Ash, Brock, and Misty battle other Pokemon trainers as children!

Augmented Reality is definitely the future of gaming and this proved that, but what does the future of gaming look like based on what went wrong with this round?

1.  Dead body, anyone?

   The most noted problem with the Pokemon Go app was when 19-year-old Shayla Wiggins accidentally found the dead body of an unidentified male on the bank of a river in Riverton, Wyoming while looking for water Pokemon. That would dissuade me from continuing play but Shayla didn’t seem phased and only seemed more determined to catch water-type Pokemon.

2. Dead phone batteries and potential robberies

   One of the major problems with Pokemon Go is that your phone battery drains at a crazy rate. We spent the day wandering around in the city looking for Pokemon and had to recharge our phones at least three times!

   Criminals will always find a way to take advantage of the situation and this was no different. The police found themselves handling many reports of robberies and battery based upon the fact that people walk around with their faces in their phones without paying attention to what is going on around them.

3. Mass injury

   Hospitals saw an increase in the number of weird and crazy injuries from Pokemon Go players from teens running into traffic and getting hit by cars to grown adults stumbling off the road to slide down embankments and breaking a leg.

So, what’s next for AR?

I think it’s safe to say that this experiment in AR was wildly successful for a time but is fading quickly from memory. Where do we go from here?

First, gaming companies should work to develop a game that is addicting and satisfying but is less of a personal security risk. We live in a very fast paced world and people should not be walking around mindlessly with their faces in their phones. We already have Facebook and Twitter for that!

Second, gaming is much more fun with friends… So game developers might want to consider being more social and including the possibility of multiplayer augmented reality environments (ex: MMORPG with AR)

Third, we live in the age of IoT. Already most of the physical devices are connected to each other and with AR location-based apps, the possibilities are endless.

What do you see as the future of augmented reality? Feel free to share your thoughts on Pokemon Go! What went wrong and what do you think is coming next?

P.S if you like the pokemon go mobile picture then please support unsplash photographer David Grandmougin 🙂