# # #    Press Release   # # # June 29, 2018 Augmented reality games provide new opportunity for cities to strengthen communities and civic engagement, finds American University report New research provides case studies and best practices for cities to leverage games like Pokémon GO to achieve local goals New York City, NY —  A […]

We will launch the report at the Games for Change festival with two panels on June 29, 2018. Hear what cities did in partnership with the Knight Foundation and Niantic, Inc. at these sessions: Friday panel #1: Knight Foundation VP Sam Gill and Niantic VP Gabriel Stricker on “How Technology Is Changing Our Relationship to the Places […]

Additional Observations and Provocations (These are not included in the official report.) Distinctive City Feature: PokéWalk What the Organizers Did:  Charlotte officials and Niantic staff created a “PokéWalk,” by linking together 16 PokéStops and two gyms along a three-mile route between two parks with access to 11 neighborhoods. Blue Pokéball stencils were sprayed onto the […]

Additional Observations and provocations (These are not included in the official report.) Distinctive City Feature: PastPort In partnership with Big Heritage, the city of Chester, England included two days of Pokémon GO social enterprise that engages museums, schools and communities with the past, approached the event through a historical lens. They offered antique-looking Pokémon GO […]

The story of Pokémon GO in New Bedford could not be told without Michelle Keith, who has become an unofficial spokesperson for the game locally. Keith’s introduction to Pokémon came through the inquiry: how can this game be used to motivate people to vote? Inspired by the crowds of people playing while she and her […]

Good lenses can amplify insights. Below are five provocations on the future of cities that help to frame our report, “Cities Remix a Playful Platform.” To guide our readers, we propose several provocations to help frame this report. For novel designs, our mental models and categories may not fit cleanly. These provocations aim to help […]

Additional Observations and provocations (These are not included in the official report.) Distinctive City Feature: Golden Raid Passes On the day of the event, “Golden Raid Passes” were distributed by Niantic Ambassadors along the route. Having one of these physical passes at any of the major event stops allowed players to enter into a raffle […]

Most of the cities that incorporated Pokémon GO hoped for social interaction in public space. Did their social mixing work? Below, report co-author Aubrey Hill outlines a few of the opportunities for social mixing we observed in our research. Philly punks help visiting father and son   After the opening ceremony at the Philadelphia Free […]

There are many ways to bring the flavor of Pokémon GO from screen into an event. Below, report co-author Aubrey Hill outlines some of the most interesting for physical space — plus a few design observations. Sidewalk Stencils and Chalk (e.g., in Akron and Philly) What they did: Event organizers provided space and materials for […]

Colorful chalk drawings, hundreds of people dressed in costume, miles of open space for biking, walking, and catching Pokémon… This is just a glimpse into what happens when a city combines an Open Streets festival with Pokémon GO. In 2017, three experiments took place through a partnership between the Knight Foundation and Niantic — in […]