jan 1, 2016 - Pokémon Go - First widely used augmented reality game.

Description:

Augmented reality is a technique in which the user sees the real world, but with additional pictures or text superimposed on it. Although it had been used earlier, the first major public exposure to augmented reality was in the game Pokémon Go. Players walk around while looking at their phone screens, which show what the camera is seeing, but with the occasional addition of a cartoon character for the player to catch. Every player looking at the same place sees the same character, because the game uses the phone's GPS to locate the player.

The programming of the game was impressive, but even more impressive was the effort the developers put into placing the cartoon characters at locations around the world that are accessible, open to the public, and not offensive. (Niantic, the company that developed the game, had to remove some locations from their list because of complaints, including cemeteries and Holocaust museums.)

The game was downloaded over 500 million times in 2016, and, unusually for a video game, was enthusiastically supported by many players' parents, because the game gets players out of the house, and getting exercise from walking around. Also, because players congregate at the locations of Pokémon, the game encouraged real-life friendships among players. On the other hand, there were safety concerns, partly because players would cross streets staring into their phones instead of watching for traffic, and partly because certain Pokémon were placed in front of fire stations, or in locations that encouraged players to cross railroad tracks.

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