Pokémon GO Defines the Future of the Web

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Pokémon GO has quickly become the most used mobile game in history. With a simple, yet revolutionary concept, it has taken the world by storm. However, what’s interesting about the rise of Pokèmon GO is not necessarily the game itself or the hype it has created, but how it exemplifies the future of the web. The future of the web will be all about combining the physical and digital worlds. It utilizes cutting-edge technology to engage consumers in their daily lives.

The web as we currently know it will increasingly change in accordance to the points mentioned above. Forget what your browser looks like today, it will be a story you tell your kids while laughing about how it was revolutionary and ahead of its time. The new browser will be focused around experiences. Imagine you’re browsing the web for a new piece of art.  In the future, you may have the piece displayed directly on your living room wall, offering a more realistic and personal shopping experience. Take online clothes shopping, where you could envision yourself wearing your potential future Diesel jeans before adding them to your cart. The possibilities are endless, but in essence it’s all about merging the virtual and ‘real’ world by offering true-to-life online experiences.

These experiences are the future of the web because they directly influence consumers’ day-to-day activities. Location based information presented in the form of augmented reality, such as Pokèmon GO, can be equally deployed in the food, clothing, health and education sector – to mention some. All in all, the way we consume information is transforming.

The rise of new technologies are of course very much at the core of driving this transformation. Both Google and Microsoft have recently launched new products that give us a hint of the possibilities of the future of the web. Overall, they are enhancements of the technology we use today. Keeping our focus on the technical side, the developers of Pokémon GO did a great job by using existing data from Google Maps to make users feel engaged with their own environment. Displaying real environments based on location is a natural next step for UX design. It’s all about contextual interface design.

Another aspect of Pokémon GO worth exploring when talking about the future of the web, is the social side. The game has proven to redefine the manner in which people socialize with both new and old relations. Offering an interactive way for users to engage with each other, it combines the best of Facebook, Snapchat and Tinder; you go out, meet new people, work together in the virtual world and potentially create new relations in the real world. People look down on their screen to interact with others in the virtual world, not with their peer pedestrians. Taking the concept of virtual communities to the next level, think of the possibilities when it comes to the sharing of knowledge.

Ultimately, it’s crowd sourcing at its best. It is about sharing progress.

Our social media world quickly went from plain text, to images, to video, to soon VR (if you ask Facebook) and ultimately AR. In five years I can find information about food, gadgets and other products simply by looking at them, see a visualized weather forecast by taking a glance at the sky and find my potential favorite restaurants by being buzzed if I’m close to it. The web of the future will tap into our direct surroundings, making us more aware of what we can do and offering personalized offerings of immediate interest.


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