tech
March 10, 2026
How Pokémon Go is helping robots deliver pizza on time
Niantic's AI spinout is using 30 billion images of urban landmarks crowdsourced from players to train a new world model.
TL;DR
- Pokémon Go, a 2016 augmented-reality game, generated a vast amount of location-tagged image data from millions of players worldwide.
- Niantic Spatial is using this data, along with data from its previous game Ingress, to train a world model for precise robot navigation.
- The world model allows for location accuracy within centimeters, crucial for robots operating in areas where GPS is unreliable.
- Coco Robotics, a delivery robot startup, is partnering with Niantic Spatial to enhance its robots' navigation capabilities.
- The technology aims to improve robot delivery times and efficiency by ensuring they reach exact pickup and drop-off locations.
- This initiative represents a shift towards creating detailed, machine-readable maps that go beyond simple location identification.
- The goal is to create a 'living map' – a hyper-detailed virtual simulation of the world that continuously updates with data from moving robots.
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