As someone from the video game generation, I’ve played my share of games. In the 1980s, games were very binary with only a few colors on the screen. But there I was, staring at the screen for hours. Games progressed over the years and consoles and graphics got better. Games now seem to incorporate the real world around you through the use of cameras on your cell phones and GPS location.
Very recently, I started driving for a rideshare company. Early on, I started noticing similarities between these new augmented reality video games and my driving app. The app displays an actual map, and when a ride request appears, the phone’s screen lights up pink with the person’s name and a 10-second timer to accept the ride. The experience is absolutely exciting. From the moment the request arrives, there is a feeling that you are playing a level in a game and that there is a goal to be met. My adrenaline pumps the whole time I’m driving.
Technically, the application software itself resembles an RPG. It has a profile that shows you stats like earnings, distance, time driven, miles, power zones, prime time, and peak areas. The map feature glows constantly from pink to dark pink to show where the most important requests are located. If you didn’t realize that these places correspond to places in the real world, then you’d probably think you were actually playing a game. Similar to RPGs, if you don’t accept a travel request, then you receive a negative to your acceptance rate. This is like losing health in a game. Also, your final score is earned at the end of each trip when you receive payment for the trip.
The scariest similarity to me is that there is an inherent addictive nature to the rideshare app. It reminds me of the same level of addiction I feel to certain video games when I play them. It feels like when you’re driving you just want to keep going. Like you just want to make that trip more before calling it a night. Only to find you taking five more walks. Like in a video game where you keep playing telling yourself just one more level, just one more. Then the next thing you know the sun is coming up, you played all night and you have to go to work!