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The aim is to utilisie AR games to discover but also create additional POIs in South Tipperary - to futureproof the area for the further expolsion of Augmented Reality. These games are played in the real world, where you can connect with other players and interact with your local area or further afield.

The first AR game Ingress – launched in 2012 – it was a very niche game and it allowed players to nominate POIs (points of interest) this database was also used for Pokemon Go and the game exploded on the scene with an unprecedented number of people playing 1downloaded 500 million times and enjoying their first AR experience.

Many towns and villages around the locality were lucky to have a number of POIs to enable people to play, I've since added hundreds to the game in places than had none to allow new players experience the game and hope to connect with local groups & authorities to create new POIs to extend areas of play and encourage more people to travel here to play to experience great visual items and to appreciate the rich history around them.

View Blueprint

AR Games

The most popular being Pokémon Go, which uses POIs for two reasons. Find out more about all games.

  • Gyms

    Gathering spot to meet with other players, connect to battle and to gain control of the gym to level up your badge to gold.

  • Pokéstops

    Used to receive items from and gathering spot for meetups, creating walking efficient loops around the town, park and walking trails.

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Adding POIs

Back in November 2019 I was accepted to submit possible new POIs in the game. At that time there was numerous items that always stood out as possible additions to the game.

Places that were locally known, hidden gems and nice locations for tourists arriving to the town. The park for example had a new park area launched, other items included information board, plaque and memorial benches.

The world is divided into grids, having 2 POIs in a grid would create 1 gym, 6 retuns 2 gyms and 20 returns 3 gyms.

How to Submit

  • Left: July 2016 (1 pokéstop/2 gyms) when the game launched
  • Right: July 2021 (7 gyms/8 pokéstops)
  • Future Possibilities: 1 extra gym and 7 pokéstops
  • Left: July 2016 (1 pokéstop/2 gyms) when the game launched
  • Right: July 2021 (6 pokéstops/6 gyms)
  • Future Possibilities: 2 extra gyms and 6 pokéstops

Progress

Red icons are additions I've made to Clonmel Town centre over the past couple of years.

Discovering interesting plaques, landmarks, murals and other miscellaneous items - enhancing gameplay and extending the gameboard to allow others to play close to them.

Recent Discoveries

The Numbers

  • 488

    POIs submitted

    Possible additions photographed and submitted for user voting.

    Note: Players of a certain level receive a maximum of 40 nominations with 1 replenishing daily which will allow for numerous extra POI submissions.
  • 324

    Approved

    New items added to the game that will display a pokéstop or trigger a gym depending on the number of POIs in the area.

  • 144

    Not Approved

    Voted against due to a number of factors, could be seen as being temporary, not having footpath access

  • Note: Players of a certain level receive a maximum of 40 nominations with 1 replenishing daily which will allow for numerous extra POI submissions.

    Level Playing Field

    Regardless of location with enough effort a town can be as good to play in as a city, even a village can have an enjoyable playing experience. Each grid contains 64 blocks with a maxium of 1 POI per cell.

    • Dublin City centre contains a high of 58 POIs but nearby there are ones with just 23 POIs.

    • Galway despite its long history has a highest total of 45.

    • Kilkenny City has a maximum total of 31 POIs in a grid in such a historical city still leaving lots of spaces for improvement.

    • Clonmel now having 45 in the town centre with grids of 33 and 25 adjacent to it.

    Spotlight

    The following are some examples of the change that a little bit of focus can make on a town/village.

    Marlfield

    5 pokéstops / 1 gym 18 pokéstops / 12 gyms

    The village and St Patrick's Well began with 1 pokéstop and gym located at the Well and 1 gym and 4 pokéstops in Marlfield village.

    It currently is home to 11 gyms & 18 pokéstops.

    View

    Kilcash

    0 pokéstops / 0 gyms 3 pokéstops / 3 gyms

    This village was blank to start with which is great for maximum potential - thanks to the grid structure I was able to locate 6 POIs to return 3 gyms and 3 pokéstops.

    Browse

    Newcastle

    1 pokéstop / 0 gyms 9 pokéstops / 4 gyms

    The local church was the only existing Pokéstop, the town had a large number of POIs for visitors such as the old castle, church ruins and historical people.

    10 items were submitted for approval, currently the village has 9 Pokéstops and 4 gyms with the possibility and at least 5 more Pokéstops.

    View

    Ardfinnan

    4 pokéstops / 1 gym 12 pokéstops / 5 gyms

    The village started with 2 pokéstops and 1 gym, after a couple of trips there I was able to get 13 POIs approved earning 4 extra gyms and 9 pokéstops.

    A new playground, fairy garden, bridges and well would increase the number and 1 additional gym.

    View

    Golden

    3 pokéstops / 0 gyms 3 pokéstops / 3 gyms

    Had 3 existing Pokéstops, looking at the grid for the village another 3 submissions in the correct location would yield 3 gyms, those were successully approved and the town currently has 3 gyms & Pokéstops.

    Browse

    Aims

    The hope is to connect with the tourism board and to take advantage of the AR surge that’s here now and will only continue to grow and will continue to evolve as technological advances are made.

    • Enhance

      To help to build up the town as a great place to visit to play these AR games, to tour around, get some dinner and maybe stay a weekend.
    • Vision

      As far as I’m aware nobody has tried to connect with their local authority or local tourism board to try and take advantage of the AR games to get as many POIs as possible in these various games.
    • Tourism

      Having a local tourism board getting on board with this would bring lots of press, and to have South Tipperary as a must-visit place to make the most of their AR playing experience
    • Wellbeing

      Actively embracing AR throughout the town and all the mental and physical health benefits of it.
    • History

      To bring attention via forms of plaques, artworks, signage and other items that will even benefit people not playing AR games in various locations around the town such as walls (along the Quay for example), footpaths and on buildings and in recreational areas.
    • Stand Out

      The game gives all locations an even playing field. Each grid can have a maximum of 1 POI in each grid, meaning the larger grids can hold a maximum of 64.

    FAQs

    Find out more about this project, aims and goals and how it can benefit you and your town.

    These are the most important sections in our Blueprint, we hope it's clear & informative.

    Hopefully based on this it can be extended outside of South Tipperary to benefit places beyond.

    Try searching, if you're looking for more information please email hello@toarism.com

     

    Toarism by burkie