FROM POKÉMON GO TO PHYSICAL AI: NIANTIC SPATIAL UNVEILS ITS GLOBAL 3D MAPPING PLATFORM

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

Niantic Spatial has launched a revamped Scaniverse platform and a new global Visual Positioning System (VPS 2.0), its most significant release since becoming independent. The VPS, trained on roughly 30 billion images crowdsourced from Pokémon GO players, determines a device's precise location and orientation via visual cues rather than GPS, achieving centimeter-level accuracy in mapped areas and extending coverage globally even where no prior scanning exists. Niantic Spatial allows customers to contribute their own data for higher-fidelity positioning in private or interior spaces, with applications spanning robotics, augmented reality, construction, and industrial inspection.