Just yesterday I started noticing a rash of news stories about people being injured while playing the augmented reality game Pokémon Go. I thought I was completely out of the loop (Poké-what?), but it seems the game was released just last week. I guess wirehead zombies will never tire of new ways to look silly or injure themselves.
The thing that really surprises me is that this is an "augmented reality" game. AR apps use a mobile device's camera to fill the screen with whatever is on the other side. Thus, the mobile becomes transparent, like a window. The AR aspect is that computer generated figures are superimposed on the image, like a fighter pilot's head-up display.
So, if the user is actually looking at what is in front of them (with a little CGI monster added), why are they (somehow) unable to see the cliff or other hazard they are about to walk into?
As someone who gets very very very pissed off at people who walk around reading texts and social media, oblivious to people around them, the introduction of this latest trend is not something I approve of.
That said, if a few of the users happen to fall off a cliff while playing the game, I'll find that very entertaining.
Looking on the bright side, at least it's not sedentary.
Indeed, it seems as though kids are getting out of the house a bit more (and I say "kids" knowing full well that some of them are in their 20's & 30's). I guess the ability to simultaneously play AND listen for car tires screeching towards them will probably be the next causal evolutionary step.
