Niantic’s AR glasses teaser has my inner Pokémon trainer excited

Pokémon GO is an addictive game and you can find yourself stuck to the screen in a hunt of mythical creatures for many hours a week. But wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could do all of that without a phone?

I hope that’s possible through Niantic’s AR glasses — a teaser of which Niantic CEO John Hanke shared on Twitter. The company, which is also behind Pokemon GO didn’t say much about when these will be available or exactly what they’ll be capable of.

Exciting to see the progress we’re making to enable new kinds of devices that leverage our platform… pic.twitter.com/yYglk4q89G

— John Hanke (@johnhanke) March 29, 2021

While Pokémon GO on AR glasses might be a pipe dream, for now, it’s no secret that Niantic wants to map the world for augmented reality. Last year, the firm announced that the Niantic Real World Platform to enable AR experiences on gadgets ranging from phones to “the wearable devices of the future.”

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Earlier this month, Niantic showed off a demo of real-world Pokemon GO gameplay on Hololens 2 headset at Microsoft’s Ignite developer conference.

We’re thrilled to collaborate with @microsoft & @hololens on new experiences that will weave together the digital and physical world. Check out this proof-of-concept demo, built on our planet-scale platform, and the amazing possibilities that could await. https://t.co/ig0bQUIQ8b pic.twitter.com/gGk5djVayC

— Niantic, Inc. (@NianticLabs) March 2, 2021

The demo indicated that the game could work on mixed reality glasses — at least in a test environment. The company hasn’t indicated when it plans to unveil these glasses. We’ve asked Niantic for a comment, and we’ll update the story if we hear back.

If analyst predictions are correct, Apple’s own AR glasses are coming in 2025, and Oppo’s set to release an AR headset with gesture control this year. So the AR glasses market is going to be very hot for the next few years. I, for one, can’t wait to play Pokemon GO with dorky AR glasses on.