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technology3h ago
With over 30 billion images logged, Pokemon Go is using players' activity to train its spinout AI company to help GPS pinpointing: "I'm very focused on trying to re-create the real world"
- Niantic Spatial will use Pokemon Go imagery to train a visual positioning system that precision-locates users to centimeters.
- The goal is to help delivery robots navigate more precisely in urban areas where GPS reliability is challenged.
- Niantic Spatial has trained its system on 30 billion images captured by players in urban settings.
- Niantic Spatial emphasizes that Pokemon Go explicitly maps AR data, with players consent prompts.
- CEO John Hanke suggests AR mapping and robot navigation share the same core problem of precise positioning.
- The map-making improvements could expand to broader ambitions beyond current robotics use.
- The report notes privacy concerns but asserts mapping data collection is publicly acknowledged by Pokemon Go.
- Niantic Spatial aims to improve GPS-based positioning for delivery services across two continents.
- The story references MIT Technology Review interviews for more detail on Niantic Spatial's approach.
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