Pokémon GO isn’t exactly what we’d call augmented reality—based on the game’s (and smartphone’s) lack of computer vision and environmental mapping—but fans of the megalithic pocket monster franchise aren’t sitting on their hands waiting for Nintendo or Niantic to build a real augmented reality version of Pokémon. Case in point: KennyWdev and Joshua Liew’s imagined AR battle system for Microsoft HoloLens, aptly named PokéLens.

Much unlike Pokémon GO, you won’t see any random Poké Ball flinging here. As fans of the franchise, KennyWdev and 3D artist Joshua Liew recreated a traditional RPG battle system that seems to gloss over the failings of the so-called “AR” mobile game, and distinctly returns to the series’ basic combat style.

The PokéLens tech demo was recorded with the headset’s on-board HD video camera, allowing for a full capture of both the real and virtual environment.

Created in Unity, the project offers an intriguing glimpse into how Pokémon battles may look in the future as AR headsets dip below HoloLens’ $3000 price point, and of course offer more robust object recognition and positional tracking. A slight jumpiness of virtual characters can be seen in the video, something Microsoft says can happen “as tracking adjusts holograms to match an updated understanding of your environment.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen of fan-created Pokémon prototypes built using HoloLens however, as developers over at CapitolaVR in Amsterdam built a basic Pokémon capture system. Like PokéLens, the project was also built in Unity with the HoloLens SDK, and CapitolaVR told us that they’ve been “amazed” at how easy it was to quickly get an AR application up and running on Microsoft’s Development Kit, having only received it a day prior to filming the demo.

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As you can see in the video below, correct occlusion, or placing the virtual object correctly in the real world, isn’t a strong suit of HoloLens however when it comes to unmapped objects like other people.

So are we going to see a true AR Pokémon game any time soon? Not likely. While HoloLens offers a great basic preview of what can be possible with untethered AR headsets, unfortunately the system requires you to map out the entire playing field first in order to play—which sort of defeats the notion of walking around and randomly finding, battling, and capturing all the Pidgeys you can shake a stick at alla Pokémon GO.

So far there aren’t any AR headset systems that we know of that allow that sort of dynamic, world-scale tracking—and while it’s technically possible that Nintendo could release a Pokémon game that works within the confines of current AR tech, it probably wouldn’t be cost-effective with so few potential users this early on. So we’ll have to keep on dreaming and waiting for the next generation of AR headsets to see just what they can do, and meanwhile hoping the mindless Poké Ball-flinging mechanic dies the quiet death it deserves.

pokemon-hololens
Me too, little buddy. Me too.
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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.
  • DiGiCT Ltd

    Still far away for high end AR, you can clearly see how much it is shaking to try to keep it tracked.
    It for sure will be awesome to play certain games in AR but still too far away and a price of 3k is for sure something consumers are not waiting for.

    Besides this hololens thingy, I will as soon as i got an Daydream ready device prototype AR into the VR HMD.
    I think this works much better and will eventualy be cheaper.
    The benefit is also you can use it for VR.
    The idea behind it is to use the camera as a seetrough, I already did those test with a samsung S5 in a cardbox kinda HMD.
    It worked fine, the only issue i had was performance, camera quality and the screenres being 1k only.

    I estimate those issues will be solved in those new daydream phones.

    Eventualy I see more future in this kind of approach, hybrid, instead of the need to buy 2 separate devices.

    • Have you tried Hololens? It’s reeeaaally stable, at least in indoor environments.
      About your system: it’s really cool, but you’re always seeing reality through a screen and is not as great as seeing it through a glass, like with Hololens. Agree that AR has still a long way to go, though

      • DiGiCT Ltd

        Yes. true to that screen part compared to glass, but eventually there will be a time too for that, the time that screens produce higher image quality as the human eye can handle.
        For audio we already can do, visuals still a WIP, but eventually it will happen, its just a matter of time.
        It might eventually even being direct projection into the eye instead of any screen, which becomes also more realistic with eyetracking tech.

        Let’s see what is coming those years.

        Hololens work OK but far from perfect. especialy when you talk about fast motion updates.
        The other part is light conditions and reflections in the real world.

        If you do 3d design or look into the real world you can stand on the same spot and change the light conditions, e.g even weather changes it, the same spot look quite different every time.
        Our world also has a day/night cycle which also makes it a harder challenge.
        Tracking works the best in daylight spectrum, and in a room with static non very reflective surfaces, also avoid black as it absorbs light instead of reflecting it.

        Those kind of issues stay in AR, no matter hololens or not.