Imagine Pokemon in the "Real" world: a Deleuzian approach to Pokemon GO and augmented reality

Discussions of the augmented reality (AR) game Pokemon GO often reinforce the demarcation between virtual game spaces and "real world" physical spaces. De Souza e Silva and Sutko's (2011. Theorizing locative technologies through philosophies of the virtual. Communication Theory, 21(1), 23-42.) work contests such dichotomies, noting the imbrication of the material and the virtual inherent in location-based applications. While this framework provides a starting point for productive examination of mobile media from a Deleuzian philosophical position, the growing popularity of and discourse about AR necessitates renewed attention to these technologies and practices. In theorizing a more comprehensive approach to augmented reality, we draw upon Wiley's (2005. Spatial materialism: Grossberg's Deleuzean cultural studies. Cultural Studies, 19(1), 63-99) articulation of a Deleuzian spatial materialism that emphasizes the imbrication of local and global forces, as well as technology, social relations, etc. to provide productive examinations of the construction of space and power relations. In the following paper, we offer our own contributions to this Deleuzian approach to AR by examining news media articles in the months following its release in order to better understand the popular positioning of the game in public discourses. Specifically, we contrast popular discussions of Pokemon GO with a more productive Deleuzian perspective, with attention to how the game is part of the production of space, subjectivity, and virtual potentiality.