Pokémon Go adds advanced augmented reality feature

A Niantic will start releasing for some smartphones a new augmented reality feature called Reality Blending (or combined reality) in Pokémon Go. The technology analyzes elements of the real world to allow better interaction of Pokémon with objects captured by the camera.

• Home Battle: Pokémon Go Unleashes Ranged Raids
• How to choose Eevee evolutions in Pokémon Go

The technology is based on an augmented reality technique called “occlusion”. In the example given by Niantic, a Pokémon (Bulbasaur) is hidden as soon as the player moves the cell phone, positioning the tree between the lens and the little monster.

Although it's now coming to Pokémon Go, the 2018 video posted on Niantic's YouTube channel shows that the company has been working on the technology for quite some time. In the demo, Pikachu and Eevee hide behind potted plants and people as they run around in the environment.

By demanding more from the smartphone, both in software and hardware resources, the new augmented reality technology in Pokémon Go will be limited, at first, to the following smartphones: Samsung Galaxy S9, Galaxy S10, Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 4.

Niantic wants players' help map 3D world

Another addition in terms of augmented reality will come to PokéStops and Gyms. Called PokéStop Scanning, the option will allow players to record a sequence of videos of these locations, up to ten seconds each, to help Niantic map real-world elements within the game.

It's something that already happens in Ingress, the company's first game, with Portal Scanning. In early June, Pokémon Go will ask level 40 players if they would like to contribute by submitting videos. Over time, other level ranges will be able to participate in this project.

“This will allow us, in the future, to deploy virtual objects into the real world to provide spatial and contextual awareness of Pokémon,” Niantic Product Manager Kjell Bronder wrote on the company's blog. “For example, this will help Snorlax find that perfect patch of grass for a nap or give Clefairy a tree to hide in,” he continued.

Niantic also points out that all this information will be anonymized; no data will be linked to the player's account; and objects such as faces and license plates will be blurred.