Pokémon Go is nice, but here’s what *real* augmented reality will look like

Amidst the fervor created by the Pokémon Go app, Signia Venture Partners cofounder Sunny Dhillon shared an important perspective with his July 14 story, “Stop referring to Pokémon Go as augmented reality.” Yes the popularity of this game gives us a glimpse into consumers’ hunger for AR games, but the technology to interact with the real world is just not there yet.

As Dhillon points out, true augmented reality “requires computer vision and dynamic mapping of the real world environment.” In contrast, Pokémon Go characters rely solely on Google Maps’ fixed latitude and longitude. If true augmented reality technologies were in use here, Dhillon explains, then inherent real-time depth mapping and object recognition would empower game characters to interact with the real-world, keeping them out of incongruous play areas.