July 6, 2018
It’s been a while now since the launch of the popular location based AR game Pokémon Go and what was an explosion of people playing it and other similar games. The sheer number of people that the game motivated to get out and about playing it was quite amazing, with many people getting out and walking for the entire day just to level up.
The idea of location based experiences is that a user will use a GPS device, in most cases a smartphone and by travelling to different real-life locations they can unlock different content and do various activities. For example, in Pokémon Go when a player travels to a real-life monument or point of interest they are rewarded with different collectables in the game.
This is an area that we at Pocket Sized Hands have explored before with our location based AR game prototype Hypothalamus Hunt, that we created in association with the University of St Andrews. Location based experiences have some great benefits, so find out more about them.
Location based experiences can really engage and bring users in. By offering content that is only accessible at specific locations, users feel more inclined to travel about to different points of interest. Not only this, it adds another exciting dimension to the experience in augmenting the real world with gamified elements.
You probably noticed around the time that Pokémon Go came out, you couldn’t walk 5 minutes without passing someone with their phone out playing the game. Location based games like this are great at getting users up and around, visiting areas and sights that they probably wouldn’t have if not for the app. Because these applications are so engaging, users enjoy playing for long periods of time and a by-product of this is that players will often get out and about more.
Location based experiences can be used in a multitude of settings as well, for example at a national park or historical site, users can look for different points of interest on their device, visit different areas and possibly read information about the point of interest or collect rewards which will encourage them to try and visit more attractions.
New tools are being released which will allow these apps to be more geographically accurate and more robust. With this, a bunch of exciting upcoming location based apps are in development and they’re only going to get more engaging and exciting as location and mobile augmented reality technology improves.
If you have an idea you want created, get in touch with us and we can bring it to life. Whether it’s a quick prototype, a full product or even just to brainstorm, our team will be here to help. From the beginnings of your prototype to the final product we can support you with professional advice and delivery.