Does This Nintendo Patent Hint at a Smartphone Revival forNintendogs?

Just because a company files a patent for a young equipment , feature of speech , or random idea , does n’t needfully mean it plans to make it a world . Sometimes , it ’s just to forestall other fellowship from doing it . So it ’s impossible to say what will come of thisrecent AR - centric letters patent filing by Nintendo , but the include images havesome Nintendo fanshoping it hints at a the coming back for a plot that was a Brobdingnagian early hitting for the Nintendo DS .

As with a heap of Nintendo devices that contribute something radically fresh or dissimilar to video game ironware , there was a lot of skepticism around the dual - screened Nintendo DS when it debuted in late 2004 , particularly when it was going up against the PlayStation Portable , which included a larger CRT screen and better graphics . But the DS chop-chop became a hit amongst casual gamers a few months after its debut , thanks in part to a secret plan call Nintendogs that let players worry and interact with a virtual puppy through the handheld ’s touchscreen . Nintendogs would go on to sell almost 24 million copy , make it the second well - selling DS game ever , so it ’s no surprisal that rooter would have intercourse to see a revival .

A late filing by Nintendo with theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office , for patent number 11,557,103 , pertains to techniques for speeding up the interactivity of augmented reality program program when it comes to inserting virtual characters into real - world environment captured with a gadget ’s tv camera .

Photo: Gizmodo

Thus , the virtual aim can be overlaid and display on the captured image , even before the characteristic portion has been observe in the captured image . Therefore , the reply time that it film to overlay and exhibit the virtual object can be decoct . Further , the first updating may include updating the spot and predilection of at least one of the virtual extension plane and the practical camera , based on the espial of the characteristic portion indicating a carpenter’s plane in the real infinite in the captivate image , such that a spatial relation and an orientation of the airplane stand for to the military position and orientation of the practical credit plane in the overlayer image .

We ’re not going to weigh in on the rigour of the patent software or if Nintendo is really the first company to come up with these technique , givenhow many augmented world applicationsare already out there in the state of nature . All we give care about is the illustrated diagramsNintendo include with the patent , demonstrating how practical objects can be localise , which are give off big Nintendogs vibes .

Nintendo has already taken its first steps into embracing wandering devices like smartphones as gaming platforms , with titles like Super Mario Run and Mario Kart Tour take the company ’s mascot on rare digression to non - Nintendo equipment . Will we see Nintendogs on iPhones and Android devices at some point ? Pokémon Go has already demonstrated how augmented reality tricks can genuinely enhance some mobile game , and have a virtual puppy running around a player ’s material home , or their genuine neighborhood park , could potentially be a really cagey update to Nintendog ’s gameplay , plus a fun way to raise the title now that the DS is no more .

Illustration: United States Patent and Trademark Office