Augmented Reality and Geofencing: The Evolution of a Familiar Story

Pokémon is a cultural juggernaut. Debuting in 1996, the franchise swept from the shores of its birthplace in Japan and washed over the Western world with unrelenting force. For the last two decades, the Pokémon franchise has cemented itself deeply within the hearts of children, teenagers, and adults across the world. The franchise’s staying power comes from creating the desire to embark on a lifelong journey to catch, train, and battle pocket monsters. A journey to become whatever type of person you wish, while accompanied by creatures that are less pets and more companions during your travels. That desire would remain confined to the handheld devices manufactured by Nintendo (Gameboy, Gameboy Advanced, Nintendo 3DS, etc.) …

Until now.

The Pokémon Go mobile application recently became available in the United States. Downloadable on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, Pokémon Go brings the creatures people have loved and sought after for decades into the real world. Utilizing the camera and GPS functions of mobile devices, the application changes life as we know it, introducing us to an augmented reality where Pokémon appear in everyday environments.

This game is big. It has the power to potentially revolutionize the gaming industry. Several of the application’s major driving forces are strikingly similar to the technologies Actsoft has provided business clients for years.

Here are some similarities between what we do at Actsoft, and what Pokémon Go is having worldwide success with:

• GPS tracking — Pinpoint user locations in near real-time, crafting a virtual representation of your surroundings
• Geofences — Populate virtual maps with designated areas where users can interact and accomplish tasks
• Keep-in or keep-out alerts — Users move about in the real world while emitting a virtual perimeter surrounding them. When that perimeter reaches a defined area in Actsoft software, an alert is sent out. In Pokémon GO, this perimeter interacts with the perimeters Pokémon have, causing them to appear on your device when you get close enough.
• User Breadcrumbs/History — Each interaction with Pokémon is documented in a journal, detailing the user’s journey, just as each GPS location ping, interaction with a form, or time-clock activity is captured for later use in Actsoft software.

The Pokémon Company’s product reveals the potential for Actsoft’s GPS style software to be applied beyond the current industries we work with.

Pokémon Go, while currently the hottest game on the mobile market, is still in its infant stage. Bugs are worked out of the application daily and additions are slated to be added to enhance the experience. The Pokémon Company is taking a big step. They’re delving into technology that Actsoft has leveraged with clients for nearly 20 years and showing that it can be used in new and exciting ways. The social aspects of the game demonstrate that Actsoft’s software has a largely unexplored territory; blank pages within the next chapter in our company’s story.

Whether stepping up your efficiency by using GPS, Wireless Forms, and smarter dispatching to get more jobs done, or battling pocket monsters in augmented reality, the mantra remains the same: Gotta catch ‘em all.

Have any questions on how Actsoft can help you?

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