WEBVTT - TechStuff Classic: TechStuff Takes the Ingress 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.240 Welcome to text Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:14.040 How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tex Stuff. 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.599 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.760 I Heart Radio and I love all things tech and 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:24.040 today is Friday. It it's time for a classic episode. 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:27.200 This episode that you're about to hear originally published on 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:32.000 December five, two thousand twelve. It is called tech Stuff 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:38.360 Takes the Ingress. Ingress is an alternate reality game that 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:42.120 was launching in two thousand twelve. It's still around today, 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.120 but I thought it'd be fun to go back and 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.080 listen to Chris Pallette and I talked about the whole 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:50.240 concept of this game back when it was brand new 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.599 and just launching. So let's listen in today. We want 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.560 to talk about an alternate reality game and a r 0:00:56.680 --> 0:01:00.960 G that uses augmented reality as well. It comes to 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:06.280 us courtesy of a little company called Google and the like. Yeah. 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.880 They they've made a name for themselves in a few things, 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:14.000 but yeah, they've created this game through a division called 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:20.240 Neantic Labs UM and it's called Ingress, and it's interesting 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.200 alternate reality game. But before we really get into the 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:26.200 game itself, maybe we should talk and refresh our listeners 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:29.920 memories about what an alternate reality game is. Now we've 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:33.160 done an episode about alternate reality games, but that was 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.440 back in two thousand nine when we were both so 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:43.200 young and idealistic. Sorry, um, yeah yeah, so yeah. The 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:48.000 differences and augmented and alternate realities are in some ways 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:52.600 kind of slight, well especially now, especially now. Um. An 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:56.160 alternate reality is is one that is I would argue, 0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:02.760 very similar to ours, um, but there are significant differences. Um, 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:05.320 you know you might have I think of that sort 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:08.160 of in the in my head. This is sort of 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:13.680 goes to the genre of alternate histories. Um, for example 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:15.799 The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:19.120 in which the Axis won World War Two? What would 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.320 the world be like? Um? You know, the countries are 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.360 still there, the nationalities that that were familiar with, but 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:30.000 things have changed substantially. That that's that's how I kind 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.760 of get into that idea or the mindset that it 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:35.600 sort of takes, because it could be something as simple 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:37.480 as uh, you know, there are a lot of what 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:40.440 ifs there. You know, what if a different person had 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:44.959 uh won the election, or what if a person hadn't 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:49.280 been uh uh, had had gone to one university instead 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.440 of another. What if? What if Lincoln had not been assassinated? 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:54.000 What if? Yeah, there are a lot of what if 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.640 type things. Alternate reality games in general, what they do 0:02:56.720 --> 0:03:00.640 is they use the they used the stuff around us 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.040 in the real world as part of a game that 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.280 is fictional. So you've got a fictional story taking place 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:10.760 within the context of the real world. Now, in some cases, 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:15.480 the fictional story assumes that the players themselves are part 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.520 of this fictional world. So you're playing a part you're 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:22.760 not really you because um. One of the two of 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:24.200 the games I always think about when I think of 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:27.360 alternate reality games are two of the big, big early examples. 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:31.600 One was called The Beast, and that was the game 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:37.160 that was partly a marketing um push for the movie 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:42.800 AI Artificial Intelligence, uh, the Spielberg Kubrick film that that 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:46.080 came out several years ago. Well, there was this this 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:48.360 game that came out with it called The Beast that 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:53.440 had a storyline that was uh tangential to the story 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:56.520 that takes place in AI. Some of the characters play 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:59.600 a part a little bit within the realm of the game, 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:04.320 and players were solving mysteries and trying to help fictional 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.160 characters achieve goals within the context of the game, and 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.480 they were all doing it in real time with real assets. 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.320 So you might get a phone call in the middle 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:15.640 of the night from a character in this game, or 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:18.040 you might get a fact or an email or a 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.320 file of some sort, and you were supposed to act 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.760 on it in a real way to push the game forward. 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:26.480 The other one that I always think about is called 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.400 I Love Bees, which was part of the Halo universe, 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:33.279 and it was again another marketing attempt to push Halo, 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:35.440 but it it took a life of its own and 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:39.360 became a game that people who had never intended to 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.320 ever play in the Halo game became and you know, 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:46.440 absolutely fascinated with this game. And again lots of different 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:50.200 puzzles and uh things that you need to achieve. Often 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.960 we will see these sort of games come up as 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.520 part of a marketing campaign. A lot of movies have 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.200 done this. I remember when The Dark Knight came out, 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.520 there was one was related to The Joker, and I 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:05.760 remember getting very very upset because I I uncovered one 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.880 of the clues and discovered exactly where I would need 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:11.279 to go within Atlanta to get it, but I found 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:13.440 out about forty minutes too late, and by the time 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:15.200 I would have been able to get to the location, 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.120 it had already been discovered, and I didn't get my 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:22.920 Joker custom bowling ball. This was that a bowling alley. 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:27.839 Oh man, can you imagine a custom Joker bowling ball? Okay, 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:30.320 that's pretty neat and it's pretty cool. So this is 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.720 this is along those lines, but it also adds in 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:38.599 the augmented reality angle, where uh, a large part of 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:41.600 the participation with this game is going to depend upon 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:46.600 people using devices, primarily smartphones. It's really meant for smartphones 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:50.479 to interact with their environment in order to h to 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:54.880 push the game forward. Yeah, we've we've talked about both 0:05:55.440 --> 0:06:00.880 alternate reality games and augmented reality SOFT where in the past. 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:05.640 UM Augmented reality is sort of like the heads up 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:09.400 display that you would see in a fighter jet. UM. 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:12.360 It's a layer of information that that a device will 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.719 provide for you. It could be a tablet or um, 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:18.800 you know, a smartphone something like that generally that you 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.320 would carry with you. And so if you were looking 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.480 through a an augmented reality device as you walk down 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:29.640 the street. You might see information about uh the businesses 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:31.960 on the street around you, or for example, you might 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.080 see a special going on at a cafe or um, 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:39.120 you might find out where the cleanest bathroom is on 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.359 the street. Don't laugh, there are people who who provide 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:46.240 this information. Um, I am not laughing. I'm downloading apps. Yeah, 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:49.720 I was gonna say. Um. And as a matter of fact, 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:54.520 uh Neontic Labs has has already come out with a 0:06:54.760 --> 0:07:00.360 sort of augmented reality app UM that I have on 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:04.400 on my Android phone field field trip UM. Now on 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:06.960 this particular in this particular case, you are not looking 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.920 at the screen on the smartphone to see what the 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:15.040 camera sees beyond having a layer of information superimposed on that, 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.680 which is a good way to walk into obstacles that 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:23.560 are not covered in your screen. By the way, avoid that. Um. 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:27.960 This actually pops up little cards I've seen them called 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.280 as as you happen to be near by something. It 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:35.080 uses the GPS um in your smartphone or I assume 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:38.760 tablet uh Android tablet. That again, field Trip is one 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.560 of those those apps that's it's optimized for smartphones. Yeah, 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:44.440 it tells you right there on the app like it's 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:47.200 it's intended for smartphones that will run on tablets, but 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:50.360 it's intended for smartphones well generally, because it's it's using 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:54.280 the GPS and your communications network to identify where you 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.960 are and give you information about stuff, and you can 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:00.600 control how much of that information use. See you might 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.200 watch what type of information. Yeah, there there are lots 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:07.640 and lots of sources, um, different restaurant review sites, um, 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:12.240 places of interest, historical points of interest, those kinds of things. 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.360 That's what I have turned on mind. So it's it's 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.160 kind of fun too to be driving around in Atlanta 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.680 and have a little alert come up and say, hey, 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:22.040 you're near uh you know, of course here in Atlanta 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:26.080 we've had civil war battles shore and they'll tell you 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.920 points of interest just down the road. Here is where 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:33.960 so and so, uh you know ran you know, in 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:36.440 in conflict and they set up camp just down the street. 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:39.400 It's interesting, It's no, it's really cool that it gives 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:43.120 you that that extra information about the world you are in. 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:45.880 And I love that idea. I mean, I've and this 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:47.280 is one of those things that you can kind of 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:51.120 see playing a larger role with Google. Other Google projects, 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.319 mainly Project glass. Yes, the idea of wandering around your 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:57.880 world and getting information about your world that you would 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:00.880 you know that that that's accessible, but you would have 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.160 to look for it otherwise. But now it's just coming up. 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:07.040 So if you are interested in things like history and 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.160 you are visiting a city or even just walking around 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:13.000 your own city, you may end up learning things about 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:15.120 your the place you're in that you never would have 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:18.520 known before. And uh, and it's it really does try 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.480 to bridge that gap between the digital world and the 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:24.240 physical world, which is something I've always been interested in. 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:28.840 And as augmented reality applications become more prevalent, it's becoming 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:31.160 it's becoming a real I think this is something that 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:34.040 we can do right now. UM, go ahead. I'm sorry, 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.720 I just wanted to mention exactly what project glasses um, 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:40.200 you know, because we didn't really talk about that. Uh. 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:43.360 That's UM. It's still sort of an experimental product I 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:47.160 would consider or unit or or really cutting edge. It's 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:50.000 it's on the verge of being produced, but only in 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:53.160 limited quantities because it's sort of a first generation thing 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:57.720 or zero point eight generation UM. And that's a a 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:01.720 project that Google has been working on. UM that it's 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:06.679 it's not. It uses a frame, glasses, frame and a 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.040 small piece of glass that, um, a user would be 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:15.120 able to see augmented reality information on the kind of 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.640 thing that you would currently use by looking at your smartphone. 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:22.240 But um, you know, it would tell you where places 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:25.240 are around you, it would be able to make phone 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:29.120 calls and um uh you know, record video. As a 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:31.280 matter of fact, that's how they unveiled it. They had 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:35.800 somebody wearing a project glass, um set of glasses and 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:38.160 walking through and they you could see what they were 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:41.200 seeing as they were they were walking through and they 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:44.160 I think somebody skydived, didn't they. Yeah, that was that 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:48.200 the Google Io event. They had a team of skydivers 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:53.439 who who wore the the glasses as they were skydiving 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:57.920 and then handed them off to uh some some stunt 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.120 bicyclists who then handed it off who some folks who 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:03.280 repelled down the side of the building, who then handed 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:06.520 it off to more bicyclists who then biked the pair 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:11.160 of glasses up to the stage to serage brand as 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.520 I recall, and yeah, it was. It was. It was 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:18.559 a big spectacle and it really spectacle. Man. I'm gonna 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:22.600 hit you and anyway, the yeah, it was, it was 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:27.120 an interesting demonstration of the of the technology. Well, anyway, 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:31.040 all of this kind of leads up to Ingress. So 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:35.280 Ingriss is coming for that same group within Google Niantic Labs, 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:37.800 which is you know that they are kind of an 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.240 R and D group in a way, and the game 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.040 it has several different elements to it. And we can 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:47.520 only speak in fairly vague terms because neither Chris nor 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:50.120 I are part of this game yet. We it's as 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.800 of the recording of this podcast, it's in beta and 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:55.120 we are not in the beta testing yet. We have 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:57.680 both applied for it, so we're hoping to have that 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.080 change soon, but as we're recording this, we do not 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.120 have access to it. It's been again, as the record 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:06.360 of this podcast, active for about fifteen days. Yeah, yeah, 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:10.000 and I think it really wasn't wasn't really well known 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:12.800 until probably as of the day we're recording is probably 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.280 only a couple or or three days. I didn't see 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:18.280 anything in the media about it until a day or 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:20.720 two before we recorded this podcast. Like a lot of 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:25.559 alternate reality games, Google started to seed every the world 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:30.800 with hints of the game from months ago, but they're 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.320 now just starting to coalesce into something we can talk 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.080 about now. Some of the seeds started off over at 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:39.679 Comic Con. Yeah, at San Diego Comic Con there was 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.040 a person who was taking on the role of a 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:49.320 character named Tycho, and Tycho is an artist in this, uh, 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:51.840 the world that has been created for Ingress, and I 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:53.680 guess we can kind of give a little bit of 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:56.079 an overview. If you were to go to Google Play, 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.480 which is where their store is, and to try and 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:02.679 download the Ingress andrew It app, you would see this description. 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.560 Ingrish transforms the real world into the landscape for a 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:10.280 global game of mystery, intrigue, and competition. Our future is 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:13.320 at stake, and you must choose a side. A mysterious 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:16.120 energy has been unearthed by a team of scientists in Europe. 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.720 The origin and purpose of this force is unknown, but 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.679 some researchers believe it is influencing the way we think. 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.760 We must control it or it will control us. The 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:27.760 enlightened seek to embrace the power that this energy may 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:31.280 bestow upon us. The resistance struggle to defend and protect 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:35.560 what's left of our humanity. So part of Ingriss involves 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:39.000 choosing a side being either part of the Enlightened or 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:44.160 part of the resistance, and competing for resources by walking 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.199 around and moving around in the real world and and 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:51.760 UH collecting resources through the smartphone application. That's part of 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:54.040 the game. We're gonna hit pause on the Game of 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:56.760 Ingress for just a moment to take this word from 0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:07.719 our sponsor. The other part of the game involves puzzles 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:12.360 that are released through various venues. UH. In some cases, 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.320 you may be looking at a physical sign that has 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.320 a QR code that leads you to a puzzle, or 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.560 you might see there might be an ad for something 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.320 that Google, either from Google or maybe from one of 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:27.840 Google's partners that includes a clue that goes into this game. 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:30.080 The idea being that parts of the game are all 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.760 around us all the time, and that by paying attention 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.400 we can we can see them and and push the 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:41.120 story forward. So right now, the the main place for 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:45.040 those game elements is on a website called Niantic project 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:49.520 dot com. It's in I A, N T, I C 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:55.960 for Niantic or neanticu and anyway, that's where the progress 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.200 gets tracked and you can actually go from the very 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:04.160 beginning of the game, which is November one as of 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:06.840 officially it's November one, and work your way up and 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.280 it all start revealing more information. You can start seeing 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:13.120 codes that you can break, things like that, and uh, 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:15.960 there are also some wikies that have popped up already 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.200 of players who are really passionate about this kind of stuff, 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:23.200 who are dedicated to gathering as much information as possible 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:27.440 and then posting it on these wikis. So you can 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.960 actually find people who are already neck deep in this game. 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:34.320 And some of them probably don't even have the smartphone 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:36.800 app yet. They're not they're only participating in the part 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:42.000 that they can over the web. But once the smartphone 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:46.040 app becomes more widely distributed, then you'll see people um 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.960 using that. Part two and the way the smartphone app 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.720 stuff works is kind of interesting. Did you read about this. 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.560 I read some about it. Yeah, alright, So the ideas 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.840 that there are these things called portals that are scared 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:02.040 around the real world and you use those portals the 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.760 other portals, well, before you ask, yeah, it's not not 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:12.360 not aperture Science portals UM or black Mesa for that matter. Now, 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.400 you use your smartphone to identify where these portals are, 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.440 and you at playing as a member of whatever side, 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.120 whichever side you've chosen, you go and you try to 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:25.800 secure these portals. And by securing various portals within the game, 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.440 and this actually requires you to move physically from one 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:33.600 location to another, usually on foot. Want to understand, um, 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:38.360 then you start to solidify your side's presence in whichever 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:42.120 city you happen to be in. Okay, So let's say 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:44.720 that there's like I don't know, let's say there's a 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:49.160 hundred portals within a few neighborhoods of where you are. 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.000 I mean, I have no idea what the dead state 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.960 actually is, depending upon you know where it is. They 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:55.680 do say that there's going to be a lot more 0:16:55.720 --> 0:17:01.040 interaction and have more heavily populated places. Sure, so cities 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.640 are more likely to have a lot going on. So 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.639 moving around, you know, just by moving around and following 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.400 the directions on the gap, you can start to secure portals. 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:11.879 Actually getting to a portal is step one. Then you 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:16.640 have to hack the portal. Yes, what actually involves in hackey, 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:18.680 I don't know. I haven't had a chance to play, 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.440 do you do you well? From what I understand, um, 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:24.600 and I'm trying not to to bring us back to 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.960 real reality too much. But from what I understand, portals 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.240 are basically places of interest, um, which would kind of 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.480 go with you know that the current m O of 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:37.480 Niantic Labs. Yeah, if you look at some of the 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:39.640 there's a video in particular where there's a guy who 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:42.680 is complaining about cell phone he bought from an auction 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.840 and he says, look, it seems to work. But when 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.560 I walk up to the statue and hold up the phone, 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.160 this weird screen comes up. And it's this this very 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.040 odd screen that shows up. And also if you pay attention, 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:58.840 in the background, there's a man in black watching. Yeah, 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:02.439 but but yeah, it's it's That's kind of the idea, 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:04.439 is that that when you get to these places of interest, 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:06.840 weird stuff happens, and there's probably some sort of mini 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:09.119 game I would imagine in the smartphone that allows you 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.600 to hack. Yeah, I understand that that hacking is essentially 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.760 a check in at that portal, like four square, Facebook 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:18.600 places that kind and I imagine it will be sort 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:23.280 of a combination of um, something simple that you know, 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.840 it doesn't frustrate people too awfully much. You know, you 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:28.919 don't you don't want to set the barrier too high 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:31.760 or you end up with a very small group of players, 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:33.440 But you don't want to set too low or people 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.240 lose interest very quickly. So yeah, it's a delicate and 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.720 people who have run alternate reality games probably have a 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:42.240 lot to say about this, about how what you know 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.040 all the challenges that are involved in designing and running 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:47.960 one of these games. It's got to be pretty monumental. 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:52.920 But but you do collect energy along the way. Yes, uh, 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:55.920 it was an exotic material or x M. Yes it's 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:59.439 not the Satellite Radio company. No, this exotic material. I 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:02.080 like to think of it like pac Man pellets. Yeah, 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.200 that's the I've seen it described. So what I thought, 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:08.199 You don't actually have to you don't. You don't know 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.520 if you actually see the balls of energy or something 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:13.440 like that, but I think you walk. As you walk, 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.800 you collected. If you look at the map on your 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:20.520 smartphone through INGRISS, it will show where the little XM 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:23.320 dots are, and as you get close to them, it 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:27.520 collects them for you, those x M dots. That energy 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:30.800 also kind of counts as your health because sometimes when 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:33.199 you're hacking these portals, some of them are boomy trapped 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.200 and they if the booby trap goes off, then you 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.280 take you take damage within the game, so you have 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:44.880 to collect more exotic material, and if you have been 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:47.240 walking around a certain part of town quite a bit 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:51.000 for you, there may not be very much exotic material life. 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:52.960 You have to go to some other location that you 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.560 have not you know, scoured, so that you can collect it, 0:19:56.560 --> 0:19:58.960 whereas someone else who's just playing the game, they might 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:02.560 be able to find exact material. Because part of this 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:04.840 game is to get people out and about and exploring 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:08.280 their environments and interacting with their environments and not just 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:11.600 you know, passively playing a game at home. Hey, it's 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.880 Jonathan from two thousand nineteen again, um interrupting Jonathan from 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.639 two thousand and twelve. That's just a wild guess. I 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:20.800 don't know where tarr is gonna put this ad break, 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:24.720 but just based on statistics, it's more likely she's interrupting 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:27.920 me than Chris. Anyway, we're gonna take a quick break 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:38.320 to hear a word from our sponsor. So there's there's 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:43.359 this part where you are trying to discover hack and 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:45.879 control these portals, and as you control more portals, you 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:49.639 can link them together and strengthen your position Meanwhile, the 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:51.760 opposing team is trying to do the same thing. And 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:54.640 there will be times where you'll have a portal under 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:58.159 your team's control and then through a coordinated effort, the 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:00.359 other team rests it away from you, and then you 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:01.840 have to figure out how you're gonna get it back 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:04.960 within the context of the game. And meanwhile, you still 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:09.280 have this other mystery going on between the two factions 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:13.239 where they're they're really talking about this exotic material, what 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.720 it's doing, why is it here, and is it a 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:19.280 good thing or not? And bits and pieces of that 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:21.680 mystery are going to play out over time, and in fact, 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:24.760 from what I understand a Google they're talking about it 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:27.399 lasting about a year and a half. Yeah, yeah, so 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:30.800 it will end um, and they've made it clear that 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:35.080 that it will end UM. So yeah, this this will 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.199 be an interesting experiment to see, uh, you know, the 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:41.280 kind of thing that that can be done with with 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:46.000 these games on this scale. Because at the moment um 0:21:46.240 --> 0:21:49.240 UH the app is only available for Android devices, which 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:51.119 make up the majority of the market at least here 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:53.639 in the United States, UM, but it will also be 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:58.359 available for iOS UH smartphones. The Apple operating system that 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:02.960 runs the iPhone um, so you know there, this is 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:04.560 the kind of thing that that's going to be available 0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:07.520 to quite a few people. And the more they get 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:10.760 involved with it, um, you know that the more interesting 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:13.120 it will get just to see how how well it does. 0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:17.399 But it'll be um. And it may also end up 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:20.760 being a source of revenue for Google to rite. They've 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:25.119 partnered with some companies. Uh, and there may be some 0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:28.080 advertising or cross promotional stuff going on through the app 0:22:28.200 --> 0:22:33.359 that will generate revenue. Uh. They may also eventually have 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:37.679 other ways of generating revenue through this besides advertising. But 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:40.960 advertising is certainly something that could be part of this, 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:43.560 and it wouldn't surprise me at all. You know, it 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:46.000 wouldn't surprise me if you're following the path to the 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:49.720 portal and you're like, huh, it's amazing. This massive portal 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:52.200 that's going to be key to the success of my 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:56.000 faction is right here at this Jamba Juice yes, which 0:22:56.000 --> 0:22:58.840 is one of their partners. Yes, yes, And you'll say, hey, 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:02.600 this portal is hacked. This portal that I'm here, it's 0:23:02.640 --> 0:23:07.280