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 […]
Provocations on the future of cities
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 San Jose reflections
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 […]
Social Mixing Through AR (blog post)
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 […]
Physical Interventions to Remix Pokémon GO
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 […]
Open Streets Festivals Tap Into Pokémon GO
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 […]