What if we did Pokémon for real?
Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise where the main characters try to collect all varieties of Pokémon creatures. The slogan is “Gotta Catch ‘Em All.”
What if we took the Pokémon concept into real life? We could gamify the concept of cataloging all sorts of real-world things.
For example, what if there was an app that allows you to snap photos of animals when you encounter them in the wild? You could use the app to identify the particular animal. If the animal is not already in the catalog, you could get rewarded somehow. After a few years of people using the app, an extensive database of animals would be created and people would have an incentive to explore the Earth to find previously unknown species.
You could crowd-source cataloging almost anything in this way. You could do plants, foods, restaurants, sports cards, coins, stamps, books, etc. Key to the success of a Pokémon-style cataloging app is that the rewards for finding something rare and previously unknown must be significant. Monetary rewards would probably be most effective for encouraging serious users.
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