Robert on Ingress

By Robert the Serious Siamese

MyPerson and littlePerson started to play a game called Ingress with their mobile phones.

A simple Ingress explanation: There are two teams, enlightened (green) and resistance (blue). The greens wish to bring humans to a new level, using an alien energy called exotic matter that escaped from CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The blues wish to protect human freedom. 

You play the game by walking outdoors with a mobile phone. The game is displayed as a map of the real world and in addition you see portals, from where this exotic matter is leaking out. The portals are actual, physical man-made things like sculptures, official buildings, parks or even graffiti. 

The idea is to capture portals and link them to build fields. By hacking portals (your own or the enemy's) you receive stuff that can be used in the game, such as weapons to destroy enemy portals. 

MyPerson was thrilled when she got something rare called a Jarvis Virus. But she is a humble Level 3 player so she might overreact.

As a cat, I would join the resistance; I do not wish humans become enlightened. It could be disastrous to my ruling feline race.

Ingress is fun for a dog owner, or for someone who wants to spend time walking outdoors and for anyone who wishes to meet new people, because few things make people bond better than a common enemy. 

Most cities have local clubs that organize Ingress meetings. MyPerson was invited to a welcome meeting but she couldn't go because my brother Jacob had injured his leg on that day. 

If you see a group of people, all with their phones drawn, tapping their screens and whispering to each other you can bet they're Ingress players. Or you may see a loner doing the same minus the whispering with a smug on look on his face, perhaps suspiciously looking for others walking with their phones held high. In fact, many Ingress players have been questioned by the police due to odd behaviour at odd times in odd areas.

At first I thought Google would benefit from learning more about various locations and people's movements. They receive photographs from places that are not accessible by car, as players suggest new portals and so Ingress turns each player into a data collector for Google. Ingress is GPS driven and this is draining the phone battery. Good business for battery booster manufacturers.

Us pets are experts on human behaviour, we study them around the clock. 

Human consciousness, that they are so proud of, is but a thin layer of the mind. Humans believe they control their own actions in a conscious and rational way. This is an illusion. And this is also the reason why it is more helpful to observe behaviour than to conduct interviews when wanting to understand people.

No doubt Google is getting some interesting data about human behaviour through this game. Hope they use it wisely.

Then again, perhaps it isn't just a game...

-Robert the Serious Siamese