It seems unbelievable that Pokemon GO debuted a stunning 8 years ago… but if you remember the year 2016, you’ll also remember what a massive phenomenon it was. The game singlehandedly revived the relatively flatlined mobile gaming industry, uniting millions of players around the world and actually getting them to step out of their houses. Most importantly, however, it proved to be the PERFECT embodiment of the potential mixed reality killer app. The Apple Vision Pro, which begins deliveries starting 2nd of February, currently lacks that killer app… and a strategic partnership between Apple and Nintendo (just like their partnership with Disney) could really give the Vision Pro the killer app it needs – Mixed Reality Pokemon (or ‘Spatial Computing’ if you’re one of Apple’s vocabulary purists).
This game demo, designed by Thailand-based Kumpanat Samkumlue, explores the many benefits and features of Apple’s spatial computing push. The company boasted quite a few features like realistic rendering, voice commands, and gesture inputs – all that would complement the game perfectly. Imagine seeing Pokemon battling on your coffee table, with the ability to hold and throw Pokeballs during fights, or even give vocal commands to your Pokemon mid-battle. The UI (and even the UX) lend themself PERFECTLY to the Vision Pro, which would vastly benefit from this smash success game. Heck, it would put the Vision Pro leaps and bounds ahead of Meta’s own Quest headsets, which lack their own Pokemon game too (but have other killer-app-worthy experiences like Beat Saber, Supernatural, and more recently, Assassin’s Creed).
Designer: Kumpanat Samkumlue
“Imagine turning your home into a Pokémon playground, where you can use cutting-edge technology like Apple Vision Pro or Oculus Quest 3 to embark on thrilling Pokémon adventures right on your tabletop. With this fan-made version, I bring to life the idea of playing a Pokémon game in Mixed Reality (MR), Inspiration from the popular Pokémon Sword and Shield games,” says designer Kumpanat. “Transforming Your Home into a Pokémon Playground: A Vision for Tabletop Pokémon Adventures in Mixed Reality. Catch ’em, battle ’em, and explore ’em—all in your own space with voice commands or a controller magic!”
What Pokemon GO did for mixed reality gaming on the phone, it can absolutely do for the Vision Pro too. Sure, your first instinct is to dismiss the idea that a Pokemon game could make a $3500 headset more desirable, but here’s what we aren’t thinking of. The point isn’t to sell more units of the Vision Pro headsets… the point is to give spatial computing its Killer App, which in turn helps the entire headset category. Apple’s rumored to be working on a cheaper, more consumer-friendly model of the Vision Pro too… and this game would pretty much etch its commercial success in stone.
