Niantic is consistently making improvements to Pokémon GO, the latest being the upcoming new “reality blending” feature that it’s just announced on Twitter and in an official blog post.
There’s also a trailer of the Pokémon GO reality blending feature in action on Niantic’s official YouTube channel. Though it’s worth keeping in mind the footage only shows examples and is not necessarily what the feature will look like entirely when it’s released into the game.
In the YouTube video, Niantic calls this “Real World AR Occlusion. Bu the gist of it is your Pokémon will blend in better with your surroundings in the real world. In Niantic’s tweet, you get an idea of what this will do. Currently in the game, your Pokémon are essentially rendered over any real world object.
With the new feature though, objects like trees, buildings, and other objects will be able to obscure them from view.
The Pokémon GO Reality Blending feature will not be alone
In addition to new blending feature, Niantic is adding one more feature to the game. PokéStop Scanning.
This is a feature that will allow users to scan PokéStops and Gyms using their phones. Partially by walking around the areas where those locations are, and partially by taking videos of them.
The purpose of this is so that the game will be able to show players a 3-D map of those locations. So players are basically helping to build these maps up in the game. Think of it like a community event that progresses with the help from the community. Where all the efforts collectively contribute towards a common goal.
At first this will only be available to trainers which are level 40 this June. Eventually though, Niantic says it has plans to roll it out to all trainers.
Reality Blending will start as a beta feature
To begin with the reality blending will be in beta when it rolls out. So keep in mind that there may be some things about it that are changed over time or adjusted to improve how it looks.
Niantic also specifically mentions buddy Pokémon. So at first buddy Pokémon may be the only ones in game where reality blending is visible. Reality Blending will also roll out to players in June. So be on the lookout for it once the feature is set to be included.
Once it launches, it should provide players with a slightly more immersive game experience.
Reality Blending and PokéStop scanning are coming to @PokemonGoApp! Watch this demonstration of what cutting edge AR looks like in action, with Reality Blending on you’ll see that Bulbasaur is fully occluded by the tree. Learn more: https://t.co/tMmOHRwIi1pic.twitter.com/qbQ20EUJyP
— Niantic, Inc. (@NianticLabs) May 26, 2020