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Serious Pokémon GO gamers are familiar with the glitches that have impacted their hunt to “catch ‘em all.” Although issues have been reported for a variety of features, many have occurred specifically with the game’s “nearby” tracking system. The system is supposed to let players know where nearby Pokémon are located so that gamers can hunt them more efficiently. Not only has the system experienced glitches that made it unable to accurately provide the relative distance of Pokémon, but the nearby screen was never designed to provide any relevant information about Pokémon. This includes basic information such as what each Pokémon is, showing only silhouettes of Pokémon when they are near.

Now, Pokémon GO has rolled out a new update which aims to address the concerns users have had with the “nearby” tracker. This feature will now differentiate between Pokémon that are nearby and those that have been sighted. The new update will also identify Pokémon by showing a descriptive image of what type of Pokémon is nearby. Unfortunately, this update has only been released to a small subset of users. So what can everyone else do in the meantime?

Charmander-ResultsIn the game, wild Pokémon appear as a silhouette on the “nearby” screen, but not everyone can immediately identify the shadows from sheer memory. There are tools such as the CamFind app, which allows gamers to snap an image of the mysterious shadow of a Pokémon showing in the “nearby” screen in order to identify exactly which Pokémon is near and get instant search results. CamFind works sort of like a Pokédex for Pokémon hunters.

Best of all, CamFind helps to provide additional information beyond just the name of the Pokémon. This includes specifics such as what a Charmander’s flame means, the evolution of each Pokémon, and links to purchase fan merchandise such as slippers or swimsuits. Not only does CamFind allow users to snap photos of anything Pokémon related in order to instantly receive information based on an image, but CamFind also allows users to engage with their friend’s Pokémon favorites in real time, check out a live feed of the most popular searches worldwide, and favorite images to go back to later.

According to the company, CamFind’s CloudSight technology “provides true image cognition capabilities for computers by using deep learning in the cloud to understand images and provide immediate information about real life objects.”

We may have to wait for the nearby tracker update to be made available to us, but we don’t have to wait to learn more about the Pokémon we’re hunting. With that being said, it will be interesting to see if the Pokémon GO craze will continue as these new features rollout and the global launches continue – considering the game has only just become available in many locations. It will also be cool to see the effects Pokémon GO has on the games industry. After all, it is the first game to truly take players out into the world, sometimes across the globe, in pursuit of their goal.

What do you think the next generation of mobile games will look like? Will we be even more attached to our screens or will we see new ways to engage with people enter the mix?

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