Niantic’s Harry Potter might take AR into the world of reality

Augmented Reality is a technology which has promised a lot but hasn’t delivered to date. Niantic will be hoping the hype converts into gain with the launch of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.

Aside from being a title which taps into the nostalgic cravings of millennials, this is one of the first products which promises to genuinely make use of AR. Of course, we will reserve judgments until the product has been launched on Friday (June 21), but there will always be doubts in the build-up.

The doubts tie back to Pokemon Go. This was an incredibly successful app for Niantic and still brings in the profits. But, from an AR perspective, it wasn’t that genuine. This was an app which laid static images onto reality through the camera. For some, this might be AR, but realistically, AR has to interact with the environment. It was a half-way solution, but commercially it was incredibly successful.

There are perhaps two major reasons it was a massive money-maker for the firm. Firstly, it was a game which offered a new twist to users. Little could be compared to Pokemon Go at the time, and it captured the interest of millions. Secondly, nostalgia.

Nostalgia is a powerful draw for many, and in Pokemon Go, Niantic engaged numerous generations. The same could be said about Harry Potter. Spreading through the books and the movie franchise, this is a title which could attract interest from today’s generation through to those in the 40s. If the game is any good, it could make a ridiculous amount of cash.

The promise is this game will actually deliver on the AR expectations. Users will be able to explore the Muggle world through the app, encountering various characters, challenges and missions in different physical locations. Users will be asked to assume the character of a new recruit in the Statute of Secrecy Task Force to investigate The Calamity.

We’re not too sure what to expect, but we are pretty sure the downloads with soar over the first couple of days. The depth of the experience and the effectiveness of the new technology will drive popularity once the initial excitement has dipped.

One of the areas which is worth keeping an eye on is whether they can prevent the servers from crashing.

This was one of the issues which Pokemon Go faced. It would appear Niantic did not anticipate the popularity of the app, resulting in the service crashing constantly for weeks on end. We dread to think how much revenue was lost due to the fact users couldn’t actually log on, and we hope lessons have been learned. Surely the right amount of resource has been allocated but the same issue persists; predicting demand is a very difficult task.

The next couple of weeks could prove to be very interesting. Firstly, whether Niantic is finally embracing AR properly, and secondly, whether this opens the door for everyone else. If this app proves to be successful, consumers might have their eyes opened to the promise of AR. This app might be a very important factor in validating the technology for the general public.

The doors could be blown off the hinges, or at least if you are watching the doors on the screen of your smartphone.