Pokemon GO is a game based in augmented reality. This means that it relies on your phone’s camera to sense its surroundings to superimpose Pokemon on your screen. However could Pokemon GO also be coming to virtual reality? It does seem odd given that augmented and virtual reality tech are two very different things, but there are hints that it could.
According to the game’s Licenses page in the app itself, it shows a list of software that the folks at Niantic used to build the game. Right at the top there is mention of Google Cardboard. It doesn’t actually say what it was used for, but it has led to some speculation that there might be some relation to virtual reality technology.
Earlier, Niantic’s CEO John Hanke had hinted that the game could be coming to augmented reality wearables, like the Microsoft HoloLens or the next-gen Google Glass, which makes perfect sense as both devices are augmented reality headsets, but Google Cardboard does seem a bit weird, especially when you consider that there isn’t a cutout for the camera.
It is possible that maybe there could be a VR version of Pokemon GO, but that would essentially defeat the purpose of the game, which was to get gamers outdoors to catch Pokemon. Maybe we’re reading too much into this, but it is still rather intriguing. In the meantime Niantic has yet to comment on the matter.
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