Religious places these days have been increasingly drawing youngsters, who flock to them not to offer prayers but to grab ‘Pokémons’ that are found around these sites.
‘Pokémon Go,’ an augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic and published by The Pokémon Company, is the latest rage in the city. In this game, players capture, battle, and train virtual creatures called Pokémon, who appear on device screens as though in the real world. It makes use of the GPS and camera of compatible mobile devices.
“I went to five temples from work to get Pokémons. We get extra points and utilities when we grab one. After Temple Run, this game has proven to be the most addictive,” says R. Vignesh, a software professional. “Not only temples, I have been to gyms, monuments, parking lots and different streets to find Pokémons,” he said.
“I want to catch them all,” said Sreeram R., a student. “I have driven to places across the city to get them,” he said. While the game has been receiving huge response from users across ages, many have taken to social networking sites to caution players to not ‘pokemon and drive.’
“It can be dangerous to drive and play the game at the same time. Luckily, the scenario in the city is a lot better when compared to the rest of the world,” said Ayesha Zarah, an entrepreneur and a Pokémon Go player.
Prisma photos
the latest rage
While mobile phone apps that edit photographs with a range of filters and effects have been many, the latest one, ‘Prisma,’ makes iPhone photographers transform their pictures into paintings.
While Prisma offers filters and effects as does Instagram, the major difference is that the filters make photos look like paintings and have 33 different art effects that a user can apply. The effects are also named after the schools or iconic paintings that they are modelled on.
“My favourite effect is the ‘Scream,’ which enables me to apply the effects of the famous painting by Edvard Munch. It truly makes me feel like an artist at the click of a button,” said Supraja, a consultant in the city.
While many are using the app for selfies and portraits, a user from the city said that he was keen on testing the app by taking photographs of a few landmarks in the city and applying the effects.
While the app is currently available only on the iOs, the makers have reportedly said that they would soon be releasing an Android version of the app as well and one to transform videos also.
(Reporting by Aditi R. and S. Poorvaja)
