Who doesn’t love virtual reality technology? Devices that immerse the human senses into a completely different world all in the comfort of their living room sound like a sci-fi realm of the future and we are currently living in that future. Along with virtual reality is augmented reality which uses a device’s screen to project virtual objects into the real world. Asides from being a new platform for video games to explore, virtual reality also helps us create interactive experiences for learning that better engage students and even prepares surgeons for operating on real human bodies. With virtual reality, we are able to “virtually” lose nothing while gaining real-world benefits. However, the inverse of this also appears to be happening, where humans are willing to experience real pain for virtual gain.
What I am referring to is Pokemon Go. When the game first came out, so to did news reports covering traffic accidents, car crashes, and even fatal collisions. How could a video game, a mobile game, cause so much havoc? Simply put, it had to do with the device’s ability to project pocket monsters around the world using location tracking and mapping technology. Occasionally these pokemon would appear in not so great places, say… the middle of the highway. However, that raises the questions. What kind of people are willing to run onto the highway just to catch a digital pokemon for an AR game? Well, considering the reputation pokemon has as a genre, the rarity of certain pokemon, and even shiny hunting. You begin to realize people are willing to go through a lot to be the very best.
But Pokemon Go released over three years ago, and there hasn’t really been any recent news about crashes and traffic accidents caused by the games. So is the topic null and void now? Not even close. We are currently approaching the release date of another major game turned augmented reality, Minecraft Earth. Now you might be thinking, isn’t that just a sandbox game? Won’t people just use that to build their Minecraft creations in the real world? Well… yes. However, several things to consider are: how reward systems will work as a means to keep people hooked, how real-world locations influence the game, and most importantly mobs. Specifically the Creeper. Just imagine hearing a hissing sound all of a sudden and watching as several people bolt in different directions and potentially into the path of a moving vehicle. My concern is, that as people become more adjusted to an augmented world, a real-world by definition is less valuable and desirable. We slowly lose our connections to a degree that even Wendell Berry would have never imagined. One day an augmented world might be all we have left, but maybe we start developing local servers, futuristic versions of the local neighborhoods we used to have, and then maybe some real human culture is preserved.