Augmenting reality with Pokemon Go

by Gideon Lasco

FUKUOKA, JAPAN - News that Pokemon Go had finally reached Philippine shores came to me just as I finished hiking up Kuju Volcano - the highest mountain here in Kyushu island. Though it came alongside many other developments that day - i.e. the opening of the Rio Games, the plan to bury Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, and Donald Trump’s latest gaffe - it was the one that excited my peers the most, judging by my Facebook feed.

Pokemon Go is the latest iteration of a game that many in my generation of “90’s kids” fondly remember. Set in a fantasy world full of cute, fascinating creatures, the game invites players to roam around the world to catch Pokemon - all 151 of them (the number has since grown).

Many of us embraced it. The now-primitive-looking graphics of ‘Pokemon Red’ sufficed in the pre-smartphone, pre-broadband Internet age, and I spent many hours ‘walking’ on a computer screen while my younger brother watched by my side. Later, he developed an evanescent ability to mimic the sounds of various Pokemon with such fidelity that I regret not making a videos of it.

The craze over Pokemon at the time was such that there was a much-awaited Pokemon anime series, a Pokemon movie (1998), a Pokemon card game, and lots of stuffed Pikachu in Divisoria.

Now, almost two decades later, comes Pokemon Go. It has the same premise as the original game, but instead of playing the game on a tiny screen, they made our world - the real world - the very ground where the game is played (albeit through the ‘lens’ of your smartphone). Walk along EDSA and you may encounter not just physical rats, but virtual ones called Ratata. Walk along Pasig River and you may catch a fish called Magicarp (thankfully you don’t have to eat it).

As soon as I got back to Fukuoka from Kuju Volcano, I downloaded the app. The game, I have to admit, has a user-friendly, intuitive interface, and as soon as I caught my first Pokemon (a Charmander), I was hooked.

Very soon I learned that the game is essentially about walking: you need to walk a certain distance for ‘eggs’ to hatch into new Pokemon, and it is by walking that you encounter more PokeStops (where you can get free items) - and of course, the Pokemon themselves.

Thus from my apartment in Hakata I ended up walking all around Fukuoka. I realized that the more densely populated the area is, the more Pokemon, so I gravitated towards Canal City - a popular shopping mall - and ended up in a nearby park by the Yanagawa river.

At first I thought I would look silly wandering at night with a smartphone on hand. But I soon realized that I needn’t be embarrassed: As it turned out, everyone in the park was playing Pokemon Go.

***

From a public health perspective, the prospect of many people finally being able to choose both playing a ‘computer game’ and doing a physical activity is surely a game changer. Already, there are reports of people losing weight, prompting some doctors to hail Pokemon Go as a “health app”. But there are also safety concerns: already, there are reports of people falling off cliffs and getting hit by cars while playing the game. Are our streets walkable, and our parks - if we have them at all - safe for people to wander about at night? The app’s popularity may end up bringing issues of urban livability to the fore.

From an economic perspective, the biggest winners are Niantic and Nintendo - the app developer and the game owner, respectively - who now have the awesome power to choose which establishments will draw crowds: a power they will be sure to capitalize on. Moreover, the game is already already engendering a “Pokenomics”: of people offering Pokemon tours; malls gaining more foot traffic by being venues to Pokemon gyms and PokeStops; and tech stores selling out of powerbanks (It’s free to play the game itself but paying for add-ons can give you a big advantage).

While we sort out the pragmatics of Pokemon, however, we will also do well to reflect on the implications for human experience of the virtual further merging with the real. Playing the game while hiking up Mt. Kaimon also here in Kyushu, I have to admit that in my excitement over catching a rare Pokemon overshadowed my usual interest in the actual fauna on the trail. And it got me thinking: Is augmented reality a way of re-animating the natural world, now that the real creatures have gone? Will a future kid see a butterfly and say: “Look, mom, a Butterfree!”?

Between the virtual and the real, there are times when the real should still take precedence. Attending the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki, I learned that there are no Pokemon on the peace park: the city officials, after seeing it overwhelmed by Pokemon players, had asked Niantic for it to be cleared of Pokemon out of respect for what the places signify. If it ever happens in Luneta, Manila should do the same for Rizal Shrine.

As for concerns that players will be closer to Pokemon than their real-life family and friends, it has so far proved unfounded. Like all games, there is a sociality to Pokemon Go: of comparing notes and hunting Pokemon together, and and even meeting new people (there are already stories of people hitting off after a PokeStop encounter).

For old friends - especially those who played the original Pokemon games together - Pokemon Go is something new to talk about; a reason to reconnect, reunite, and reminisce.

In fact, I better check with my high school classmates to see who among us thus far has caught the most number of Pokemon.

Ten years later, still an inconvenient truth

by Gideon Lasco

CEBU CITY - Ten years ago, when Al Gore released Inconvenient Truth, the documentary detailing how our planet is being affected by a rapidly-warming planet, perhaps it was still possible to dismiss it as a doomsday prophecy. Perhaps it was still possible to imagine that the world will simply continue the way it was; that we could keep burning fossil fuels and squandering our natural resources with impunity.

Perhaps it was still possible to acknowledge global warming as a reality - but one that is eons away, and thus as irrelevant to our time as the eventual expansion of the Sun, or the ultimate destruction of the Universe.

What a difference ten years make.

Today, echoes of Yolanda’s devastation still reverberate in our country and many victims are still reeling from its effects. Even as the blame game continues, there is little doubt that a changing climate was a predisposing factor - one that can continue wreaking havoc to our country in the typhoon seasons to come.

Today, a massive wildfire in Alberta, Canada still rages, having already burned 500,000 hectares of forest - almost the size of the entire island of Cebu. Experts agree that this fire is an unprecedented disaster that goes far beyond natural limits.

Today, our very own Mt. Apo - the country’s highest peak - has barely began recovery from a massive fire that destroyed hundreds of hectares of tropical rainforest. And while it is only Apo that has received media attention, many other mountains suffered fires, from Mt. Hamiguitan in Davao Oriental to the Cordilleras in Northern Luzon. As in Canada, the scope and magnitude of these fires are unprecedented.

The worsening El Niño has not only affected the environment - but humans as well (it is naive for us to separate ourselves from the ecosystem to which we belong). In Cebu alone, at least seven deaths have been attributed to heat stroke due to this year’s El Niño, and the toll to humans is far more catastrophic once we start connecting the dots: When farmers in Kidapawan cry for help amid their hunger - a hunger that is due to the destruction of their crops, which in turn is due to the severe drought - are we not seeing the consequences of a planet that is becoming hostile to crops it once nourished?

If ten years ago, the truth was debatable, today, many people - at least in our country - accept it as a reality (conspiracy theories notwithstanding). But while we have been acknowledging and experiencing the truth of climate change, acting upon its implications remains inconvenient.

It remains inconvenient because while global warming calls upon us to reduce our carbon footprint, we still find it inconvenient to do so: many would still find it a “hassle” to bring their own bags while shopping - or cut back on air conditioning. Indeed, the comforts of modernity, unsustainable though they are, remains too difficult for many to let go. Moreover, even if we wanted to, our society has not made it convenient for us to reduce our impact: There may be people who wish to walk, bike, or take public transport - but there is no infrastructure to do so.

Secondly, it remains inconvenient to live up to the implications of climate change partly because for every inconvenient truth, there is a convenient falsehood.

Today, we hear politicians talk about “clean coal”, as if the word “clean” before coal can exorcise the dangers of coal and other fossil fuels to human health and the environment (coal plants alone account for 1/3 of global carbon emissions). Today, we hear people talk about “responsible mining”, which, while it may indeed be a possibility in the future, detracts from the fact that mining has been responsible for the environmental degradation in many areas, from Semirara to Surigao.

But perhaps the most convenient falsehood of all is the idea that we are too insignificant to make a difference. Indeed, if there is something we can draw inspiration from in the past ten years, it is the fact that no effort is too small not to count in our fight to save the planet.

Our own country is a good example. Geopolitically, we have never been one of the big players - and neither have we been one of the big polluters. But in the international effort to deal with climate change, we have taken a position of moral leadership that is borne out of our experiences. The road to last year’s Paris negotiations “started in Manila”, and Filipino scientists, activists, and lawmakers alike have been a strong voice in the global conversation to combat climate change.

Small innovations and advocacies can also make a difference. From scientists pouring their time and effort to make clean technologies - and to make technologies clean - to activists lobbying for the enactment of laws creating protected areas, or ordinances to discourage the use of plastic bags - we all have a role to play in whatever field we find ourselves in.

***

Ten years ago, the challenge was to convince people of the inconvenient truth of a warming planet. Today, the challenge is no longer to make people accept this truth, but to make them live up to its implications.

Thus we have to continue clamoring for political leadership that can act on this planetary menace - and stand up to dirty industries. We have to continue making use of our knowledge and skills in coming up with new ideas, technologies, and practices that can help us move towards sustainable development.

And we have to lead an example of how we can reduce our carbon footprints - starting with our own lives.

The parable of the lost cellphone

I used to lose cellphones all the time. I lost my phone to knife-bearing 'holdapers' while riding a jeepney in E. Rodriguez, Quezon City and to a snatcher on a Manila-bound bus from Batangas. The most careless of all when my phone slipped into the sea while I texting on a boat in Coron - an episode witnessed by my friend Olivia Mejia. Helpless, all I could do was post on Facebook that "I may have lost my phone but at least I found paradise".

But there was a time when I thought that my phone was gone, only for me to get it back in a way that helped me appreciate an often-misunderstood part of our country. I was traveling in Maguindanao when, upon returning to Cotabato City, I realized that my phone was gone. At the time, the Maguindanao massacre was still fresh on people’s minds and I have to admit that I felt a bit of unease while traveling in the area. In any case, even if the disappearance happened anywhere else in the Philippines, I honestly thought that there was no chance that I could ever get my phone back.

To my surprise, however, my friend and host in Cotabato - Dr. Zhamir Umag- got a text message from my mobile number that night, with someone saying that he had found my phone. "How can I return it?" the sender asked. It turned out that I had left it on the jeepney back to Cotabato, and it was picked up by someone from Buldon, Maguindanao. Zham communicated with the finder and they made arrangements for the phone to be brought back to Cotabato the next time the finder goes to the city.

I was already back in Manila when the phone arrived by courier. When I opened the phone, I saw various pictures that the finder must have taken using the phone. It revealed a mountainous area and a wooden house (like the one in the picture) that must have been the finder's home. Surely, if he had sold the phone, it would have made for a significant sum. The more I looked at the photos - the finder's young kids, his wife, and their village - the more I marveled at the kindness of the finder.

Grateful, and thrilled, I asked Zham to offer a token of appreciation to the honest finder and his family.

But the finder turned it down, saying:

"Please tell him that we're not expecting any reward. We're just being good Muslims."

Note: I originally posted this photo on Facebook where it went viral, getting over 32,000 likes and 5,400 shares. It was also carried by several news outlets and websites:

"The Heartwarming Story Behind this Viral Photo" (ABS-CBN)
http://rachfeed.com/look-photo-small-nipa-hut-gone-viral-touching-reason/
http://www.thesummitexpress.com/2016/05/gideon-lasco-viral-photo-small-shanty.html
http://www.trendingnews.ph/touching-story-behind-viral-photo/
http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2016/05/please-tell-him-were-not-expecting-any-reward/

Mother's Day essay: There are no plain housewives

by Gideon Lasco

It has already been rejected many times in the past but the use of the term 'plain housewife' has continued to this present day, not just in ordinary conversations, but in news reports. A quick Internet search reveals that in the past year alone, the term was used in local media at least 18 times. “From being a plain housewife, [she] is now earning enough for her family to live a comfortable life,” says one report about a Cebu businesswoman. Even the Philippine Information Agency describes one beneficiary as a “plain housewife”.

What is so “plain” about housewives?

In the Philippines, women and men have always shared the tasks of raising a family. That our languages don’t distinguish between males or females (asawa can mean husband or wife) is just one of the evidences of the more egalitarian society we have enjoyed long before the colonial encounter. In many societies, the mag-asawa shared in various responsibilities of the oft-inseparable domains of earning a living and tending the household.

This mode, however, changed in modern times. Men - for whom the jobs were initially available - had to leave their homes throughout the day; consequently, the women had to stay. Eventually, there were more opportunities for women, but the higher-paying jobs were still the province of men, due to educational and social barriers.

As a result of these circumstances, the working woman was seen as “sophisticated” - highly-educated and well-heeled - while the housewife was seen as “plain”.

What is wrong about his narrative? First, women who stay at home are also working, perhaps even more so than their husbands. One website, Salary.com, computed that all the tasks of a stay-at-home mom in the US amounted to a $113,568 salary in 2014. Surely, in the Philippines, full-time housewives can also claim a competitive pay were we to put an economic valuation to the work they do.

Moreover, many housewives run sari-sari stores, participate in multi-level marketing, do handicrafts, and engage in many other sources of income. It is only our prejudice for formal employment that colors our view of other forms of hanapbuhay (livelihood), but they are no less important.

Second, being a housewife has never meant being unsophisticated. In fact, staying at home is a choice that many highly-educated women make. Rather than see women who stay at home as subordinated, or confined, we must see that oftentimes these choices are made by couples together. Financially, emotionally, and socially, it takes courage to be a housewife.

Finally, in our society today, many women are actually the breadwinners of the family. Women and men take turns in caring for their children, and in many cases it is the “house husbands” who stay at home. Will they, then, become “plain house-husbands”? These inversions of an imagined “norm” expose the double standards that should invalidate not just our use of “plain housewife”, but our prejudices for women who stay at home.

Cory Aquino is probably one of the most famous examples of a “plain housewife”. During the bitter campaign that ended in the fall of the dictatorship, Ferdinand Marcos and his supporters dismissed Cory as “just a woman” and a “plain housewife”. But Cory Aquino took up the label and it doing so, resonated with millions of women and men around the world. By identifying herself as a "plain housewife", Cory demonstrated that one way to challenge the use of a term is by being its living contradiction.

***

Terms like “plain housewife” remind us that language can reinforce ideologies of power. More than grammar (as the so-called 'grammar police' are wont to do), it is the seepage of oppression and inequality that we must be most wary about in our choice of words. Not to go to the extremes of “political correctness”, but simply to be mindful of the meanings of the words that we say. Surely, social attitudes that are reflected in these words weigh heavily in women’s decisions to stay or not to stay at home. But studies in health and education are unequivocal in seeing the advantages of close parental support.

Of course, many families do not have the luxury of someone staying at home, and I am not advocating for every mother to be a housewife. What I am against is the notion of a “plain housewife” because it shapes our way of thinking about women, and the way women think about themselves. Whatever choices women and men make - as couples or single parents - we should create an environment that supports these choices and family configurations.

I say this as the son of a mother who has devoted a big part of her life to her children. She was many things to us: storyteller, teacher, cook, driver, guidance counsellor, and many more…long before she became our mentor and friend. As a doctor who has witnessed mothers give birth and care for their babies and toddlers, I can also suggest that perhaps the greatest labors our mothers did for us predate our own memories. Surely, their lives are anything but plain. When we reflect on the many tasks of motherhood, we ought to realise that one of the greatest gifts that anyone can have in this world is a mother’s love.

Indeed, there are no plain housewives, just as there are no plain individuals: women and men alike. As we celebrate Mother’s Day, we must celebrate the women of our lives in all their uniqueness. Whether they decide to stay at home, or pursue careers that keep them from home, surely theirs is a labor of love, which deserve our utmost affection and appreciation.