Google's Ingress reality game teases support for wearables

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ingress, Google's augmented reality game, has teased that it could support wearable devices in the near future, Digital Spy said.

When asked about plans for the smartphone augmented reality game in the future, Niantic Labs VP of product John Hanke said that while nothing specific has been announced there is "a ton of potential" with wearables.

"We're excited about what you could potentially do on a device [like a smartwatch]," he told Digital Spy at D.I.C.E. Europe 2014.

"Maybe it could let me know when I'm near a cool portal... maybe I can hack the portal, or attack an enemy just by tapping on the watch.

"People play on their way to work, and play on bikes, so making the game more accessible in those kinds of situations - so you don't have to stop and pull your phone out of your pocket, or ride your bike one-handed while you're dodging traffic - there's a ton of potential there."

As for Google Glass, Hanke said that he would "put that in the category of interesting devices" but has no specifics to announce.

Meanwhile, there is "nothing currently in the works" for Windows Phone owners.

Ingress was recently updated with a missions feature, described as an ideal starting point for newcomers.

Missions have debuted first on Android, and will be rolled out to iOS owners "in the very near future".

Ingress made its debut on iOS earlier this year, and the game has seen a total of seven million installs across Android and iOS devices.