San Francisco (AP) – The makers of the popular smartphone game “Pokémon Go” are launching their own social network for users of their apps. With “Campfire” (campfire), players can, among other things, display their position on the map and arrange events, as the developer Niantic announces.
While the service will initially be available for games developed by Niantic, developers who base their apps on Niantic’s technology platform will also benefit later.
Launched in 2016, “Pokémon Go”, in which players use their smartphones to chase small animated monsters, fueled the boom in apps that integrate digital content into real-world environments on the screen. This is referred to as “augmented reality” (AR).
Counter-proposal to the “metaverse world”
Niantic CEO John Hanke sees the technology as an alternative to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s concept of a virtual “Metaverse” world. “We want to use technology to add some magic to the world,” Hanke said. “We don’t want to get in the way, the world is a pretty cool place.” Hanke is hoping for AR glasses that display digital content directly in the user’s field of vision.
Niantic is expanding its in-house AR technology with the ability to determine the position of a user in a location down to the centimeter. This is made possible by scans of the surroundings and 3D models, so that the camera can recognize where the smartphone is at the moment. With the technology, superimposed digital objects are to be adapted more precisely to the environment and interact with it. Virtual objects can also be displayed in exactly the same place in apps for multiple users. The feature is initially available in locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, London and Tokyo and is expected to expand to more than 100 cities worldwide by the end of the year.
Announcements from Niantic
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