I want to start out by saying that the idea behind Omnii is very fascinating and unique, trying to create a fusion between social interactions and location-based gaming. After opening it for the first time, I was eager to try and use it to meet new people, and try new things in my first year at Cal. However, I feel that there are certain issues that hindered PlayhouseAR from reaching its full potential.
The biggest problem with PlayhouseAR for me is really just the lack of users. It feels kind of awkward putting myself out there when nobody else is on PlayhouseAR . I feel like that rings true with my friends, who also feel less inclined to get PlayhouseAR because nobody is on it. I feel like Omnii thrives on an active user community - the more people involved, the more engaging and fun it becomes. But without an active user community, PlayhouseAR just feels hollow and empty.
Secondly, I feel that there just are not a lot of things to do on PlayhouseAR . Of the friends that I managed to drag onto PlayhouseAR , enticed by the promise of missions and opportunities to meet new people, many of them (including myself) are disappointed with the lack of activities and interactions, other than just the photo drop feature. There just doesn’t feel like there is any reward, or reason to stay on PlayhouseAR , if there are no events, rewards, or other people here with us.
Again, I really want to emphasize how exciting the idea of Omnii seems to me. I just feel like there are a couple barriers that really limit Omnii from being as great as it could possibly be, and I hope that the devs find a way to make it more interactive and embedded into the Berkeley community! :)