Pokémon GO phenomenon 5 years after its arrival

The Pokémon GO phenomenon arrived in 2016, immediately revolutionizing the world of gaming apps.

An augmented reality (AR) based game developed by Niantic Inc. which immediately conquered players of all ages.

Niantic itself said that 2020 – in the midst of the pandemic – was its most profitable year, and globally active users increased by 15% in the first five months of 2021.

How does Pokémon GO work?

As already mentioned, it is a free smartphone app that combines the virtual reality of the game with the real world.

Through localization and mapping, it creates an "augmented reality" in which players capture and train Pokémon characters that suddenly appear in real places, all through their smartphone's camera.

Pokémon GO and the use of Augmented Reality

Among the reasons for the popularity of this AR game are the ease of use and gratuitousness .

But the reason that has enchanted millions of people around the world, taking them to unlikely places without making them take their eyes off the screen is precisely the use ofAugmented Reality.

An immersive and completely new experience, easily accessible from your mobile phone and in continuous development.

In fact, theAR experience becomes more and more realistic thanks to the continuous updates on which the company works daily: from the implementation of 3D maps to the increasingly realistic graphics of the characters.

Not only smartphones, Niantic's augmented reality glasses are coming!

In March 2021 the CEO of Niantic announced on Twitter the arrival of real AR glasses,which will be available on the market by 2025.

For the moment they do not seem to have been designed to catch Pokémon, but they will certainly bring augmented reality into everyday life.

Pokémon Go Fest 2021

Despite the fact that years have passed, despite COVID-19, Pokémon GO is an growing community.

Suffice it to say that millions of trainers also participated in the Pokémon GO Fest 2021.

Two days of celebrations spent between music, dances and initiatives in more than 20 cities around the world… but above all in total safety!

The organizers of the festival have in fact collaborated with the administrations of the various cities managing to encourage local tourism.

What happened at the weekend? Here are some numbers that the organizers report:

• More than 1.5B of Pokémon caught.
• More than 900M PokéStops shot.
• More than 23M raids completed.
• More than 125M kilometers traveled.

Do they seem like a lot? With the digital development and implementation of AR technologies, the numbers are destined to grow more and more!