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The robots are coming\u2014and they\u2019ll need a good map to get around, whether they\u2019re delivering our packages, driving us around, or doing any of the myriad of other tasks robotic helpers may perform for us in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWithout spatial intelligence, your robot really can\u2019t do what you want it to do,\u201d says John Hanke, the former CEO of Niantic Spatial who transitioned<\/a> into the role of the company\u2019s executive chairman a week ago. \u201cYour Roomba is operating just in your house. But as we\u2019re about to start operating at city scale, we need these big, large-scale, shared, accurate representations of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n This week, Niantic is taking the next step towards building that map: The company is launching its new Scaniverse platform, which aims to give companies and individuals the tools to capture the world with phones, 360-degree cameras and drones, and then fuse that data into a massive 3D map that allows robots to navigate the world around us with centimeter-level accuracy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a very different approach from the way companies like Google have traditionally approached the problem, as Hanke knows firsthand from having led Google\u2019s mapping efforts two decades ago. \u201cThe problem with the Google approach, having lived it, is: You send all the cars out, capture all the streets,\u201d Hanke says. \u201cThen a new road gets built. Everything changes. You\u2019re always behind. Your data is always stale. It\u2019s always old. And it\u2019s very capital-intensive.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And while an outdated map may be annoying to people, it\u2019s all but worthless to a robot. \u201cYou want it to be a living map, not some static reconstruction,\u201d Hanke says.<\/p>\n Niantic came up with its bottoms-up, distributed approach to mapping when it was working on the popular mobile game Pok\u00e9mon Go, and needed to turn real-life landmarks into virtual battlegrounds for its millions of players. When the company sold Pok\u00e9mon Go a year ago and rebranded as Niantic Spatial, it doubled down on its 3D mapping efforts, striking deals with robotics companies<\/a> and others to take advantage of its geospatial data.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company\u2019s new Scaniverse platform is based on an app for 3D enthusiasts the company acquired<\/a> five years ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAn app for enthusiasts becomes an enterprise platform<\/h2>\n