July 6, 2016, might go down in history as the day everyone started seeing the world through a new set of electronic eyes. That's the day Niantic delivered Pokemon GO, a game application which uses augmented reality to offer smartphone players a chance to hunt and capture the eponymous critters. The game -- which reached 1 million downloads by Aug. 1 -- has quickly been adopted by players who seek out PokeStops to replenish their stores of items and gyms in which to battle each other with their kept creatures. Despite criticism from nonusers, the phenomenon has spread quickly.
One Arkansas destination quickly grasped onto its unique situation. Eureka Springs is home to many monuments, landmarks and parks where PokeStops and gyms are located. The city has embraced its position rapidly, and officials have declared it the "Pokemon GO Capital of Arkansas."
Jacqueline Wolven, executive director of Main Street Eureka Springs, said players were immediately noticed by local businesses. "People were running down the streets with their phones out in front of them morning and night," she said. "We downloaded the app and saw that all of the PokeStops are based on points of interest -- and in our downtown district, there are hundreds," she shared. "We quickly realized, that with the high capacity of PokeStops in a walkable distance, we were the obvious headquarters for Pokemon GO in Arkansas. We printed signs for store owners who had PokeStops near or in them, hosted two sessions for business folks to learn about the game and how they could participate, and we bought a Pikachu mascot [costume] that comes out for photo ops and fun events."
Shortly after 9 p.m. on a recent Wednesday, while attractions and most restaurants had closed for the day, more than a dozen players were in Basin Park, looking at their cell phones. Several slow-moving vehicles made circles of the famed historic district, where 36 PokeStops sat within the range of the road. A parking area at the intersection of Van Buren and Main streets -- where four PokeStops and a gym are located -- was the source of continued activity by both foot and vehicular traffic into the late hours of Thursday night.
One player outside a business on Spring Street noticed a search-by-foot for PokeStops and Pokemon to hunt that Thursday afternoon. She suggested a special tour that's been set up for players. Steve Arnold, owner of Haunted Eureka Springs, is an avid Pokemon fan himself.
"I decided to download the Pokemon GO game app to see what all the excitement was about," Arnold related. "I was a week or so late to the party, but I instantly got hooked. Within eight days, I was the first person in Eureka Springs to reach Level 24. My secret to success was driving a short loop in my car that would take me to 15 or so PokeStops in about 11 to 12 minutes. This route required me to briefly stop at each spot. I began wishing I had someone who would be able to drive me around, so I could focus 100 percent on playing."
Arnold -- who offers a shuttle-based ghost tour of Eureka Springs -- had a revelation. "It dawned on me our shuttle van was not being used for about 22 hours a day." Thus, Arnold said, the Eureka Springs Pokemon GO Tour was created. "I thought, why not see if others would like to rack up items and jump up levels like I had so quickly, while letting someone else handle the stress of driving."
The tour encompasses three gyms and 25 PokeStops, which can easily be spotted and claimed via the app. It also treads through what players call "spawning grounds," where Pokemon sprout up in a higher percentage. At the end of a run, Arnold uses a lure -- an item in the game that draws Pokemon to a PokeStop -- at the trolley stop in Basin Park, providing participants an additional 30 minute of play.
While Arnold's initial tour the last weekend of July gave players the opportunity to join for $10 a session, he said charter tours are the way to go.
"For $70 per hour, our tour can be chartered for up to 14 players," he said. "So for as little as $5 per hour per player, they can reap the benefits of the super route and they can focus 100 percent on playing the game."
But how did Eureka Springs earn all these locations for players to access? Greg Tucker, a North Little Rock participant in the game, cited a previous application which utilized similar stops.
"PokeStops and gyms are based off Niantic's previous game called Ingress, where they would select monuments and other significant places as 'portals,'" he said. "You could capture these for your team and, if you thought a place needed to be added as a portal, you could do so. I actually did that and had a submission accepted." Niantic is not currently accepting suggestions for locations, Tucker noted.
While Pokemon has been around a while and become a part of pop culture, this iteration of the game associated with it is different. "It differs from other other Pokemon games in that, instead of staying relatively still to move an avatar across a screen with controls, you act as the avatar," Tucker shared. "I have known about Pokemon since the first two games, Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue and still own them, as well as the game that came out right after them, Pokemon Yellow." The first games came out in the United States in 1998.
The Pokemon GO is based on the global positioning system and has been lauded as an unintentional exercise program for requiring its participants to move about communities to collect Pokemon and find gyms. Tucker said it also has given him a chance to explore his area. "It has led to more curiosity about some places and their history," he admitted.
That sort of curiosity is drawing the attention of the tourism industry. Kane Webb, executive director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, noted the participation in the game early.
"I was up in Bentonville, and I was driving around the square right at dusk. I bet there were 3,000 people looking at their phones. It was quite a sight," Webb related. He also noticed an increase in individuals on the Arkansas State Capitol grounds, where his office is located. "You can look out your window and see people with their phones in their hands, trying to find Pokemon.
"Arkansas State Parks put out a press release shortly after it happened, just to say 'Welcome, we're excited to have you guys come visit our parks and find Pokemon and play the game' -- with a few reminders of checking park hours. Crystal Bridges (Museum of American Art in Bentonville) was out there within a day or two of the game's release, letting guests know -- through the museum's blog and Twitter account -- Pokemon had been found on the grounds, which made news in national magazines such as Forbes."
Part of the allure of the game, and its appeal to tourism, is an age-old ideal. "It's old fashioned," Webb shared, "like when your mom would say, 'Go outside and play.'"
Webb can see potential for using augmented reality in future tourism efforts, but how those applications will be developed and applied is still a mystery.
"What's the next evolution of this augmented reality stuff?" Webb asked. "It won't stop here. I feel this is the beginning of something. Who knows what we're going to see in five years? Ten years ago, we didn't even have smartphones. Things have changed so quickly, so much that nothing would surprise me."
NAN Our Town on 08/25/2016