Niantic Labs has announced that its global hit mobile game "Pokemon GO" is about to get a much better augmented reality feature called AR+, thanks to Apple's ARKit.
Niantic was among the first to popularize the use of AR in gaming, when "Pokemon GO" launched in July 2016 with an AR viewer, which puts the pocket monsters on top of the phone's camera view. But this was somewhat limiting, and did not exactly encourage users to make the most of their gadget's AR. However, with the new AR+ mode, players can expect a much better gameplay from their favorite Pokemon catching game.
Niantic is making the most of Apple's ARKit by putting the Pokemon in the camera viewfinder with a much better accuracy, as well as true-to-life size ratios, by basing it on the data pulled from the game's database. That is a huge improvement from the previous rough approximations that placed the pocket monsters based on assumed positions of objects.
Taking into account the relative position of the user, players can also literally walk up to the Pokemon they want to catch. If they could sneak up on a monster, they could also capture it more easily. Accomplishing this gives the player a new capture bonus called "expert handler," which grants more Experience Points (XP) and extra stardust, an in-game currency for upgrading Pokemon.
Where before, players would normally turn off their mobile's AR feature to save battery, the new AR+ mode should encourage them to keep AR on all the time with more interactive and enjoyable gameplay.
To play with the AR+ mode, tap a Pokemon from the world map screen on the app. This will open the camera and show animated shrubbery on the ground. Tap the grass icon to force the monster out of hiding. The Pokemon should stay in place even when the player moves the camera around, walk closer, or even turn the viewfinder away.
Make sure to move slowly when sneaking up on the Pokemon as to not surprise it and trigger the detection meter.
The "Pokemon GO" AR+ mode will soon be available for iPhone and iPad owners using iOS 11.
