With cycling being more popular than any other means of transport in Amsterdam, and when a daily tram ride can get easily boring, an interactive artist at Headmade, Daniel Disselkoen, decided to make every-day commuting a bit more adventurous. What started off as a form of street-art has evolved into a commuter game that is more than just two stickers on a tram. In cooperation with Amsterdam’s public transport operator, Gemeentelijk Vervoers Bedrijf (GVB), Mr Disselkoen created a real-life augmented reality called GVBeestje (meaning “a little beast” in Dutch).
The creator urges travellers to put their phones down and play this simple low-tech AR game which is now thanks to cooperation with GVB available on every tram in Amsterdam. This should make the commute more interesting, and inspire people to observe the neighbourhood, its people and moreover to enjoy the overall experience of public transport in the bicycle capital of the world. The rules are simple, just watch the video below.
Interest in the game is picking up speed on social media and many people are not only comparing it to the latest online sensation Pokémon Go, but many of them also suggest that they’re enjoying this much simpler game a lot more. Nevertheless, if the commuters still don’t want to put their phone away, they can share their results on social media using the hashtag #GVBeestje on Twitter and Facebook.
We were on BBC Hereford to talk about #GVBeestje. This little creature is traveling! Thanks @bbchw pic.twitter.com/gOFSDwGLOw
— Daniel Disselkoen (@Disselkoen) July 18, 2016
Toeristen in Amsterdam opeten met #GVBeestje > #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/JCBySaTSG3
— Thomas Heij (@ThomasHeij) July 13, 2016
Level IV gehaald! #GVBeestje pic.twitter.com/Iz1fi0Ar5h
— Bram van Kersbergen (@bramvank) June 30, 2016
The game is based on Disselkoen’s older project, Man-eater, which transpired during the same journey to an art academy he had to take for four years. Wanting to change the every-day dullness, he decided to create a graduation project called “Remake Reality”.
Apart from Beestje and Man-eater, Daniel Disselkoen created an actual mobile game called Cucalu where instead of searching for Pokémons you roam through a city looking for simple geometrical objects – circles, squares and triangles. Players start with circles, take a picture with the app and other players then reward their work. This also works vice versa, as the author suggests: “The other way around, you praise what others see to sharpen your creative skills.”
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