“The main charm of Pokémon is that they allow you to diversify even such a boring and routine process as a trip to work or school: we turn into a game something that doesn’t fit with the game at all,” says Natalya Bogacheva. We met with a cyberpsychologist to discuss gamification, multitasking and augmented reality features.
Ksenia Kiseleva: We’ve practically been taken over by Pokémon this summer; my colleagues caught them literally on the shoulder of the cardboard figure of Freud, which is in our editorial office. We decided to turn to experts in order to understand what is good about this and what, perhaps, should alert us. Natalia, you told us that today’s youth, especially in big cities, lack thrills, new experiences, and this is one of the reasons that aroused such a strong interest in the Pokemon Go game. What do you think, where does this lack of experiences and sensations come from, when, it would seem, in a big city there are many different ways to entertain and entertain yourself?
Natalia Bogacheva: In my opinion, it is rather wrong to compare games that are included in our daily lives, such as Pokemon Go, and some activities that are, of course, easy to find in a big city. Concerts, even sports, are what we set aside time for in our lives. In contrast, many games — including casual (from the word casual) games for phones — do not require that they be played constantly. You can enter them at any time, and the gameplay itself has this.
By playing, we add interesting experiences, including competitive ones, and realize our passion for collecting.
The main charm of Pokémon is that they allow you to diversify even such a simple and seemingly boring routine as going to work or school, that is, we turn into a game something that doesn’t fit with the game at all. It is quite difficult to compare what we do consciously, allocating a long time, and games that we think we will play for 2-3 minutes until we get to the store for bread. And when it turns into much longer trips around the city, it’s more of a side process that we don’t plan when we start playing.
We can also recall such a phenomenon as gamification: the desire to bring game elements into everyday professional activities, when in order to increase productivity, employers introduce game elements into the work process. Pokemon Go is an example of the gamification of our daily lives. That is why it attracts so much attention…
K.K.: Did he fall into the gamification trend?
N. B .: You know, Pokemon Go is not an example of gamification, it’s still a standalone game. Moreover, the product is quite unique, because we add an interesting experience, including a competitive one, and we realize our passion for collecting at the expense of the time that, it would seem, we cannot spend on anything else.
K.K.: That is, we have some extra time and some activities that take place in parallel with others?
N. B .: Yes, for the modern generation, in general, the desire to do several things at the same time, or multitasking, is quite typical. We all seem to know that this does not lead to a significant increase in the speed of doing these things. We know that this will affect the quality of doing these things, but we are still trying to do it, and in particular, going to catch Pokemon is also an example of multitasking.
K.K.: And when we get carried away and instead of 5 minutes on the road for bread we go to the neighboring forest for an hour? And when we get into this state of flow, optimal experience, when we forget about time and enjoy the process in which we are completely immersed, is there a danger in this? On the one hand, this is a pleasant experience, but on the other hand, it is caused by not too serious side activities.
N. B .: Here you can enter into philosophical disputes for a long time about what is serious then and what then you need to do, because, of course, there are all these “need to work”, “need to study” … But we, in addition, spend a lot of time on a variety of other activities. Regarding flow state, indeed, a number of authors have linked the occurrence of flow state while playing PC games in general, and Pokemon Go in particular, to the possibility of addiction to those games. But here you need to understand, firstly, that the state of the flow itself is not fully understood …
K.K.: And if we talk about the positive aspects? Let’s not get addicted. It is clear that a certain number of people, as you say, are small, subject to addiction. But if we take a completely healthy relationship with Pokémon, what positive aspects do you see in this hobby?
N. B .: Games like Pokemon Go go above and beyond what PC video games are usually accused of: getting people out of the house rather than chaining them to a computer and forcing them to sit in one place all the time. People chasing Pokémon will start to move more and go out more often. This in itself is a positive impact.
As part of such a game, you can meet other players, and this leads, among other things, to the emergence of new friendships.
Games like Pokemon Go contain quite a lot of information that you need to be able to use. For example, game objects are tied to real places of interest, and if you look around, you can see a lot of new things, even in the part of the city that you seem to know well. Not to mention the fact that there is a reason to explore the part of the city that you do not know. You can see interesting buildings, visit various parks. It is also a reason to communicate with people: within the framework of such a game, you can meet other players, and this leads, among other things, to the emergence of new friendships.
In the summer, when the game had just burst into, let’s say, our mobile phones, I personally saw an impressive number of people sitting together on the grass in the park, somewhere on the boulevards and catching Pokemon, because in the game there is an opportunity to lure players to certain territory, so that all players who are in this territory receive an advantage. To some extent, the game gathers people and, moreover, encourages cooperation rather than rivalry: the opportunities to fight with someone in the game are still limited, but the opportunities to help each other, to play together are already quite adequately presented.
K.K.: Augmented reality is often talked about in connection with Pokemon, although no one seems to know exactly what it is. Could you explain what it is, what it has to do with Pokémon, and what it has to do with our lives in general. How can augmented reality change it?
N. B .: In its most general form, augmented reality is our surrounding reality, which we supplement with virtual elements using various technical means (in particular, smartphones or GoogleGlass augmented reality glasses). We remain in reality, unlike virtual reality, which is completely built by means of modern information technologies, but we introduce some additional, let’s say, elements into this reality. With different goals.
K.K.: So, this is such a hybrid of reality and virtuality.
N. B .: You can say so.
K.K.: Now, thanks to Pokemon, we got a little feel for what it is like when Pokemon are combined with our real world, and I think it’s very interesting. These are indeed glimpses of the future, which, apparently, will come faster than we think.
1 The interview was recorded by the editor-in-chief of Psychologies magazine Ksenia Kiseleva for the program «Status: in a relationship», radio «Culture», October 2016.