Gotta Catch Em’ All! Hmm … What do you have to catch? And how many are there? And how exactly do you catch ‘them’?
These were just a few questions I had surrounding Pokémon when the craze hit the streets. We all know Pokemon has been around for years, but this new ‘Pokémon Go’ game has flooded the mobile app market and has had many positive effects for personal health and local businesses. However, with positive effects, also comes negative. First of all – What is it and how does it work? Well … naturally … I first downloaded the game (Of course in the name of education and study…..) I know I know… You are silently thinking ….Eeeeeek! Don’t get sucked in! To be honest, I was really worried that I would become insanely addicted to it and jump on board the Pokémon Train – however it didn’t turn out that way, purely based on the fact I have no time for such games at the moment! The App, Pokémon Go, is a geo-location-based, augmented reality (AR) mobile game created by the Pokémon Company and Niantic – an AR company. AR technology means that games blends virtual reality with real life objects by allowing virtual objects to appear in front of your eyes whilst you navigate around your environment (Augmented Reality, 2016). In fact, the gurus who created Pokémon Go were on the same team of people who created Google Earth and helped Google Maps come alive with 3D images and street view, which is consequently why they were able to map and select over 5 million locations to place the Pokémon creatures. You will find the Pokémons all over the world in public artworks, historical sites, parks, public places, company buildings and local businesses (Bogle, 2016). For those of you who haven’t played the game, it is really simple. All you need to do is find the suggested location, hold your phone up and scan different settings and you will see many different Pokémon creatures. There are a large variety of Pokémon creatures, 151 to be exact, to be found, but there are also some super rare characters, which are very hard to obtain. The frenzies and mass gatherings you have seen on the news around the world and at times, in serious accidents, have often been due to sheer desperation to catch the rarest Pokémon creature. You just have to type in ‘Pokémon Go’ into a search engine and thousands of articles come up about incidents that have happened around the world – good and bad. In the first week Pokémon Go was launched, it was downloaded more than 7.5 million times on iOS and Andriod devices and has been used more than WhatsApp and Instrgram, spending 43 minutes each day playing Pokémon Go (Business Insider, 2016). What have been some positive and negative impacts of this popular culture game of Pokémon Go? Positives Walking/Exercise I can now speak from experience! For example, to ‘hatch an egg’ it asks you to walk 2km to the nearest museum and then in order for it to hatch quickly, it makes you walk around and around and around for 2-5km for incubation to be completed and some creatures even require you to walk 10km to a certain historical landmark to find a unique Pokémon. Another positive? You cannot cheat and drive! it works on steps. Who would have thought an iPhone App would make you fit whilst having fun? Who doesn’t want to walk all day in the sunshine and outdoors to hatch as many eggs as they can and find wild Pokémon creatures?! Fresh Air and Sunlight Many of us always acknowledge that sunlight and fresh air do wonders for the soul, but there are actual studies that prove this theory. A group of studies published in the 2010 issue of the ‘Journal of Environmental Psychology’ proved that every participant reported feeling happier, healthier and more alive when they spent time outdoors and took a break from their work desks. According to Livestrong (2013), spending about 30 minutes in the sun can provide you with nearly a day’s supply of Vitamin D through skin absorption which reduces your risk of many diseases such as bone, diabetes, sclerosis, heart disease and autoimmune conditions. Furthermore, chemicals which linger in the air from trees and plants, are at the centre of research in regards to stress reduction. The 'Journal of Biological Regulators & Homeostatic Agents' (2008) did a study and recorded that participants showed more physical signs of relaxation, lower blood pressure and lower amounts of the stress hormone cortisol when they spent time in nature rather than in the middle of the city and indoors. In all honesty, who doesn’t feel better when the sun in shining? Communication/Social Tara Haelle (2016) commented that ‘she has never seen so many people out and about exploring parks and talking to each other and she has met and spoken to more members of her community than in the past few years of living in her town’. Due to many people looking for similar Pokémons in certain areas, it allows people to communicate about something fun and imaginative and therefore, enhances social interactions. There is an inspiring article about a boy with Autism who makes comment that ‘Pokémon Go changed my life as I left my house for the first time and socialised’ (Barksworth, 2016). Adam Barksworth, 17, struggles with social anxiety and requires one-to-one support from a carer, but after downloading Pokémon Go, he left the house and socialised for the first time. His parents are ecstatic as it has changed his life forever and ‘he is now a totally different child' (Rucki, 2016) Negatives Injuries There have been a huge number of people ending up in hospital from injuries caused by playing Pokémon Go. Just Google it … go on … I dare you. Type in ‘Pokémon Go’ injuries and you will be blown away. People are so engaged in their phones they are forgetting to look up and they ending up tripping and spraining ankles, knocking themselves out, falling, bumping into people and causing serious injuries (CBS News, 2016). For example, one man tripped and fractured 5 bones in his foot taking 6-8 weeks to recover and universities have even issued warnings to say ‘the campus has been invaded by Pokémon, please approach with caution and remember to look up from your phone to avoid tripping or running into something’ (Washington Post, 2016). Arrests There has been an increase in people trying to rob and harass Pokémon Go players. Elvis Campos was the first person arrested after he tried to rob an unaware player (as he wasn’t concentrating) in Las Vegas, before a shootout left him and the player injured (Lineman, 2016). There have been reports of players being arrested after they tried and break into establishments such as Zoos and Parks after hours to hunt for Pokémon. There have also been scary reports that people have been adding ‘lures’ which means you can pay to set up locations for Pokémons to be found in and lure people to these spots in order to rob or harass them and as a consequence many people have been arrested on the basis of potential harassment. Car Accidents There have been some awful incidents of car accidents on the roads due to people playing Pokémon Go. One girl was playing the game and claimed it made her cross a busy highway, as a result she was hit by a car a badly injured. The worst of all has been 2 deaths, one was in Melbourne Australia when a 22 year old woman was killed by a hit-and- run driving incident when she was crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing whilst playing Pokemon Go, however the man later came forward and the other incident was a lady who was knocked down by a truck driver who was playing Pokemon Go whilst driving in Japan (Sim, 2016). Not only have these incidents happened but there have also been many minor car accidents due to people playing the game and not concentrating on the road. So there you have it! The positives and negatives that have come about from the game Pokémon Go. Perhaps in the holidays I will give it another trial run, but for now I am going to put my cute little Skitty and Sewaddle to bed .. References Augumented Reality. (2016). How Augmented reality works Barksworth, A. (2016). Pokemon Go changes autistic teen’s life by inspiring him to leave the house and socialize for the first time. Bogle, A. (2016). The story behind Pokemon Go’s impressive mapping Business Insider. (2016). Pokemon Go is actually helping small businesses CBS News. (2016). Terrible things happening to Pokemon Go players Haelle, T. (2016). Five ways Pokemon Go is actually good for you. Lineman, L. (2016). Two arrested after Monday shooting involving Pokemon Go players at Freedom Park Livestrong. (2016). The effects of sunlight and fresh air on the body. Rucki, A. (2016). Pokemon Go changes autistic teen’s life by inspiring him to leave the house and socialize for the first time. Sim, W. (2016). Woman hit by vehicle in Japan’s first Pokemon Go related death Washington Post. (2016). Pokemon Go’s unexpected side effect: injuries
2 Comments
Shani
10/18/2016 03:30:30 am
Ah, Pokemon Go. I have to admit, I love this game. Loved more like it. Lately the company has begun to ignore their customers and focus merely on distributing the game instead of fixing it. But, I admit, whenever I walk somewhere I turn it on to hatch eggs.
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Kereth
10/20/2016 05:59:15 am
I was fascinated with this post! I finally understood what augmented reality was in a proper setting! Having done lots of courses and people trying to explain it to me ... I just didn't get it. What I don't get here is WHY oh WHY people go traipsing around after these pocket monsters!!!
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Miss Megan Elizabeth
Australian living in Johannesburg, Primary School Teacher, IT Teacher, World traveller Header Image Used with permission from: Flickr. Creative Commons Quick Links Home About Me Blog Roll Digital Curation Feedback Reflection Blogs Dystopian Literature Banning Books Pokemon iPads Shakespeare Minecraft |