Bay Area Man Hacks His Tesla So That He Can Play Pokemon Go
To what extent can you play the widely popular augmented reality game, Pokemon Go while you are on the go? Ask, Pink Java Media editor Jeff.
Jeff who loves Pokemon Go and also his Tesla has just done that. He has gone ahead and hacked his electric vehicle to combine two of his loves, the most talked about game app and the most talked about electric car. And why not, after all, the car has three essential elements for playing Pokemon Go – a 14 inch monitor, GPS and camera.
Jeff was able to get Pokemon GO up and running on his Tesla with some old-fashioned ingenuity, an ethernet cable, and of course, a little bit of luck.
“It’s not perfect,” Jeff said. “The Tesla’s display cuts off some of the game; I haven’t been able to fix that.”
Pokemon Go is a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game that uses a smartphone’s GPS capability to locate, capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokemon, who appear on the screen as if they were in the same real-world location as the player.
Jeff says he gets into his Tesla, loads the game, and drives to different locations where Pokemon have been spotted. However, his method has a drawback. It is only possible to catch Pokemon while driving in reverse, as the car’s camera is in the rear bumper.
“It makes for quite a challenge,” Jeff said. “I almost backed over a Rattata!”
While Jeff has received demands to make other Teslas Pokemon-Go-friendly, he is hesitant to actually tinker with someone else’s car.
“This is a trial and error process,” he said. “I once hacked my home so that my lights would blink every time I received an email. But that got old pretty quick and I haven’t been able to figure out how to make it stop.”
However, Jeff thinks that Elon Musk might appreciate his creative altering of Tesla’s firmware.
“Maybe they could push this feature out with the next update,” he said.
When asked Jeff what is next up his sleeves, “Tinder,” he said with a smile. “Going to see if I can swipe right with my turn signal.”
