By: Julie Essex
This article spoke on the topic of Hybrid Reality Games (HRG) and how it has developed over the past 15 years. Hybrid reality games are location-based mobile technology that create playful experiences that take place across digital and physical spaces. This article gives examples of games that have come out in the past decade that have given users the experience of HRG’s. The writer also speaks on the possible issues these types of games can create.
One of the examples the writer focuses on is Pokemon Go and how that wasn't technically the first HRG game. The first one was Can You See Me Now? This game was very groundbreaking at the time it came out in 2001. Since then these types of games have been released and more research has been conducted to see how they influence and affect its users.
One thing the article speaks on is how these types of games heavily rely on surveillance. This for some people could be too invasive for them because the game would need to know their every move to make it function correctly. Privacy is very important to people and in the case of Pokemon Go, the makers of the game noticed a glitch that had to be quickly fixed because the information of users' Google accounts could be seen. This meant that users' private data such as emails, payment information and much more could be accessed by others. Many users were unaware of this issue just like they are with many other location-based apps. These apps can see where users are, how long they have been in a space, their travel speed and much more.
My thoughts on this article and the games it talks about is, I personally didn't play Pokemon Go when it came out. I wasn't very interested in it and I remember everyone around me seemed to be so obsessed with it. I wasn't a Pokemon kid when I was younger so I think that is why I wasn't interested. It was a cool concept I thought and it got people to be more active, it seemed like there was a bug community around it which would be nice for people trying to meet new friends. I personally don't think too much about the surveillance on our mobile devices. I do find it scary that people can see personal information and intrude on it. I know I currently have a bunch of apps on my phone that always ask to see my location and for some I definitely do but for others I set restrictions on when they can see my location. I think for some apps this is okay, for example “Find My Friends”, I would say it's okay for this app because it's nice for safety reasons (for being a woman) and also if you ever misplace your phone. I would say that sometimes it does get kind of creepy how our mobile devices can see and hear everything we are doing even if it can be for good or bad.
To conclude, this article was interesting to read and learn about how researchers are studying these types of games to see how they impact society. I don’t think things will change for a long time about how much privacy we have with our mobile devices. I think laws will eventually have to be put in place to make any change. For now I think these are fun games but it can definitely become very scary once there is not really privacy left.
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