‘Pokémon Go’ Studio Releases Mixed Reality Pet ‘Hello, Dot’, Now Available on Quest 3

By
Scott Hayden
-
11

Niantic, the studio behind Pokémon Go, revealed it’s been working on a Quest 3 mixed reality experience that lets you play with your very own pint-sized virtual pet.

Called Hello, Dot, Niantic calls the app a “mixed reality showcase” from its Peridot AR pet franchise, which the studio launched on mobile last year.

Here’s how the studio describes Hello, Dot:

Hello, Dot, takes the best parts of caring for your adorable Dot companions and brings them to life through the magic of mixed reality. In this immersive experience, you’ll be able to admire just how visually stunning your Dots are up close, and develop a special bond with them as you play together.

Imagine being able to hook your hands under your Dot’s arms and pick them up – and then toss them up and let them float back down into your embrace. Or perhaps your favorite song is playing in the background and you want to have a little dance party with your Dot. Or maybe you want to just relax on the couch snuggled up against your Dot. The possibilities are endless and the joy you’ll feel is REAL.

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The studio says in a news update the launch of Hello, Dot is only “the first step in the evolution of the Peridot franchise,” noting that it’s “only a glimpse of what we hope to bring to the various spatial computing devices of the future.”

Hello, Dot is exclusive to Quest 3, and can be downloaded for free from App Lab.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Arno van Wingerde

    A virtual pet? It seems to me that virtual petting would be difficult to implement, since you do not feel the animal. And putting on VR glasses for AR with a pet? A few minutes perhaps… but let’s see how it turns out.

    • Nevets

      Think broadly, my friend. Haptics address the need for tactile feedback, at least to some degree. And many people love virtual pets. Of course there’s a market for it.

    • Guest

      Nintendogs for the Nintendo DS was a very early concept game, and sold well due to its novelty. Ultimately its legacy is mixed because it was, as this is, a concept demo meant to showcase the new types of experiences the capabilities the DS could deliver. XR especially is in that era. This is the Nintendogs.

  • Martin

    There’s a great interview with a woman who’s a professor at caltech I believe who revealed that Niantic is a front company for the CIA. I recommend watching it before downloading this game and scanning your entire private space to upload to Niantic’s servers.

    • Guest

      Everyone who has ever used any services by Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook or just any of the FAANG companies they already wire all that data directly to them. Same for ISPs.

  • It’s cool that it is already downloadable from App Lab… I’ll try to have a try with it

  • david vincent

    Yet another fake MR trailer

  • I dunno if they should be bragging about Pokemon Go. They just reskinned an already popular game, Ingress, with another popular game, Pokemon.

    That makes them competent and using other people’s IP’s well… it doesn’t make a great game designing studio.

    Ingress was already fun. My sister played it. And then she played Pokemon Go. She liked both, but said it was the same game.

    I’m always eager to see new VR game development, but that’s my pinch of salt about the “Great Studio that brought us Pokemon Go”. I wouldn’t put my expectations TOO high.

  • Guldhammer_DK

    OMG just what I needed – a little un-natural computermade child pet – and not a virtual dog or cat…come on

  • Nepenthe

    Google “strange beasts vimeo.”

  • NotMikeD

    You want me to get attached just so Meta can arbitrarily kill my virtual pet off at some point in the future like they did with our boy Bogo? No thanks, I’ve been hurt before!