While software development companyNiantic, Inc.first hit the mainstream in 2012 with its augmented reality gameIngress, its popularity absolutely skyrocketed with the release ofPokemon GOin 2016. Upon its debut, the game became a worldwide phenomenon, bringingPokemonfans both old and new the monsters they know and love in the real world, with the game maintaining an even largerdedicated player base today.
Since 2016, Niantic has captured the hearts ofHarry Potterfans with the AR gameHarry Potter: Wizards Unite, which also sees a faithful player base, not to mention a recently-announced partnership with Nintendo to bring fans an officialAR game based on thePikminfranchise.Now, it seems that the CEO of Niantic may be teasing the company’s next big step, and it looks like it could be huge.
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Over on Twitter today, Niantic CEO John Hanke tweeted a photo of what looks to be Niantic-brand augmented reality glasses. Along with the photo, Hanke expressed excitement over the “progress we’re making to enable new kinds of devices that leverage our platform…” While nothing was officially announced by the company or CEO, it seems clear that Niantic is looking to break into new markets by creating its own hardware.
As a company focused primarily onaugmented reality technologies and entertainment,AR glasses certainly seem like the next logical step, especially after establishing such strong relationships with massive companies and franchises like Nintendo,Pokemon, andHarry Potter. Of course, this isn’t the first the public has seen of AR glasses, as Google launched its Google Glass device back in 2012. While many considered it an interesting novelty, it never took off for a variety of reasons, such as its high price-point and bulky design. While not a whole lot can be discerned from Hanke’s teaser photo, Niantic’s glasses appear to have a rather slim design, with speakers and some sort of adjustable strap.
SincePokemon GO’s release, Niantic has been hard at work perfecting its AR technology. Over a year after the game’s initial release, Niantic introduced players to the AR+ feature, which worked to use Apple’s ARKit framework to bring fans an even more realisticPokemon GOexperience. Now, the company has been hard at work to bring fans anew Reality Blending featureand more.
Pokemon GOremains as popular as ever, with a constant flurry of events, updates, new monsters, and more being added to the game regularly. It will certainly be interesting to see if Niantic plans to use its new device to enhance thePokemon GOexperience even further.
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