Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are two of the most interesting new technologies that are slowly being adopted by a number of companies today. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages and similar to Betamax and VHS, companies are taking big risks by heavily investing in one or the other.
'Pokémon Go' and the future of gaming
While companies such as Samsung and Sony have been investing heavily into VR for gaming, other developers such as niantic labs have gone in an entirely different direction. Niantic Labs has previously proven that augmented reality has a place in gaming through the success of their previously released AR video game, "Pokémon Go."
At the Mixed Reality Summit in London, Niantic Labs Ceo John Hanke expressed his take on the subject and talked about how gaming should be focusing more on AR as opposed to VR.
The "Pokémon Go" boss explained at the event held yesterday that VR may be detrimental to the gaming community as it will make them want to spend more time in the virtual world rather than go outside and experience the real world.
Augmented reality and human interaction
Hanke further explained that human beings are happier when they are outside and when they are with nature. Immersion into a virtual world is apparently the opposite of what AR is offering consumers. The CEO elaborated that users will likely end up isolating themselves and everyone around them if VR continues its trend.
Niantic's call for more AR games
At the summit, Hanke urged those that were in attendance to consider AR as being the technology with the most potential to have a "positive impact on humanity." The CEO even cited that their game, "Pokémon Go," actually had a positive health impact on its players and that other games should follow suit.
The merging of AR and VR
Despite his bias towards AR technology, Hanke did mention that he does foresee a future where AR and VR could work together as a single experience for consumers. AR currently has a lot of potential in business and productivity applications, while VR does offer a lot more when it comes to media consumption and games.
