Truth About Niantic Project Or New Augmented Reality Game From Google
Google Inc. has recently launched a beta testing of a fantastic augmented reality game called Ingress. It is really amazing and now I would like to tell you why. That idea was really brilliant from the very beginning. Have you heard of Niantic Project website? That was a portal where some leaks and hidden clues to this game were. It still exists and you can visit it if you like. There were lots of encrypted data and allusions there and that site made people really interested. Even I tried to decrypt the messages that were there.
New project
That site and the investigation that was there were teasers of the coming game. Ingress is not an ordinary augmented reality project. It’s a new way to look at the world around us. The story begins with European scientists discover new source of energy and its nature is unknown. It is somehow connected with portals that were spotted near greatest monuments and memorials of humanity all over the world. That energy comes from there and it controls the minds of all the people on the world.
There are few seekers, who have found that secret and now they are divided into two teams, fighting for that energy. The first team is “Enlightened”. They are fighting for that energy in order to control the minds of all the people in the world to help them get a better future. And the second team is “Rebels” and they are trying to make all the people free from the control of “Enlightened”.
The main target of every player is to gather the “XM” containers which contain that mysterious energy and bring them to the portals. You will gain levels and discover new quest by doing this. That application is available for Android OS and you can download it from Google Play Market. But the game is on beta testing so you will have to achieve an activation code by signing in on Ingress official site.
GPS based game
The game is GPS based, so you will have to look for those containers in real world, by coming to the places marked with GPS coordinates available in your quest log. The more players are at your city – the more severe the competition will be. Also we think that Wi-Fi networks or 4G will be used for connection to the Google servers. And there surely be cheaters, which will use signal jammers, to cut off player’s communications in order not to let him reach the container.
The game is really awesome and I wish to try it, but a simple investigation made me think that there are some hidden goals of this application. You know, Google tries to create a solid pedestrian navigation system and that game is just perfect for making users to gather all the needed information for building databases for Google Inc. That’s why it was the perfect time to launch the game. It’s the best way to make people gather data for free. Another point is that that many of those players will buy Google Glass next year because the game will be just perfect with those.
Anyway, whether the Google’s interest is – the idea is cool. But if you want to satisfy yourself with that augmented reality game – try to avoid people with various jamming devices – they will surely ruin all the fun with cheating.
