Pokemon GO HoloLens Mashup Made Almost Real By Koder
While some might still contest whether Pokemon GO actually qualifies as a proper augmented reality application, there is no denying that it would be great if it were. Heck, even Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thinks so too, and so do its developers, Niantic Labs. But neither party seem to be rushing to make that happen, at least not publicly. So while biding our time, some rather enterprising developers over at Koders took it upon themselves to show the world, and Niantic, how sweet a Pokemon GO HoloLens version would be in real life.
Before you get too excited, this is only a prototype and not the actual game itself. Not even a full-pledged clone. Still, for something that was made in just two days, it's pretty darn convincing. That is, until you start seeing the Pokemon dance.
A headset like the HoloLens would arguably be a better way to experience Pokemon GO as it truly brings augmented reality to the table. No need to whip out your smartphone and view the critter inside a box. You can just as naturally see Pokemon as you would a stray cat. Except, of course, you're the only one who can see it. Unless someone else nearby has a HoloLens too. Though Koder doesn't really say if it works that way, we can only presume it to be so.
Of course, it's not going to happen any time soon, at least not for us common folk. Even if Niantic were to developer a Pokemon GO version for the HoloLens (which would imply making a Universal Windows Platform version that could possibly be used on Windows 10 devices too, so yay!), it would be available for only a very limited number of people, the developers who actually own a HoloLens.
And the HoloLens is an extremely expensive piece of kit. Given how crimes have already started to spring up around Pokemon GO, you are going to be risking quite a lot taking it outside just to "play". You might very well end up just using your smartphone anyway.
Still, it's a nice dream. Not to mention it's nice watching Pokemon getting their groove on.