(2021-07-09) Levy Pokemon Go

Steven Levy: It’s now the fifth anniversary of Pokemon Go.

To mark the anniversary, I had a conversation with Niantic CEO John Hanke, who founded the company after heading Google Maps.

the mania subsided, as most players got their fill. But a solid core of fans have kept the game alive (422B Pokémon caught to date!)

Pokémon Go is just the first step in Hanke’s larger vision of welding digital artifacts to the real world.

Hanke believes he is constructing what he calls the Real-World Metaverse.

unlike the total, Matrix-like immersion into an imaginary realm that virtual reality offers, Niantic’s Metaverse lives on top of the actual world, enhancing specific locations with digital roadside attractions.

every big tech company, particularly those worth a trillion dollars or more, has become infatuated with the possibilities of augmented reality.

It would seem that Niantic is at a disadvantage in competing with those huge players. Besides more limited resources, it doesn’t have the leverage of a dominant operating system or a giant social network. But it does have a plan. Niantic is allowing developers to use its technology to create their own AR applications, some of which we may see later this year. This means sharing the company’s crown jewel, known as the Map—a hyper-accurate positioning system (GPS) that ties digital objects to real-world geography. The company has also partnered with Qualcomm to create a reference standard for AR glasses (HUD), one available to any company that wants to manufacture a lightweight augmented reality rig. “I don’t think you need to be a giant to lead innovation,” says Hanke.

Creating the Real World Metaverse is like expanding the lot of every building in the world to accommodate unlimited additions, without a building code to constrain the possibilities. But it opens up a lot of questions, too.

Hanke told me Vernor Vinge’s 2006 novel Rainbows End “has been kind of my North Star for AR.”

Vinge also has an explanation of how alternate versions of geographically linked AR worlds can coexist: He envisions “belief circles” where people choose which set of enhancements augment the world they move around in.