Snap Inc. and Niantic’s New Partnership: A Game-Changer for City-Scale AR Positioning and Experiences

Snapchat’s got this wild new thing happening with Niantic Spatial. You know, the guys who did Pokémon Go? Yeah, them. So Snap’s teaming up with them to bring this crazy city-scale geospatial stuff to Snapchat and those Spectacles AR glasses. Sounds like tech magic, right? Both win—Snap gets to be all precise with their maps and Niantic gets a bajillion bits of user data to make their ‘Visual Positioning System’ even more awesome.

Anyway, AR devices today are like, “I know where I am in this room,” which is cool. But when you want two headsets to chat, they need to speak the same language, kinda. Like, sharing the same map in real-time so you and your friend see the same giant cyber-dragon at the park. Niantic’s been obsessing over this shared map idea for ages so AR gadgets can all join the same dance party in, I dunno, Times Square.

So now, Snap’s working with them to get this VPS magic into Snapchat and Spectacles. They even dropped a snazzy video showing all the chaotic fun you could have with it. Imagine an AR concert just popping up in the middle of the street or a mysterious portal at your local park only you can see—until your friend shows up, and bam, you’re both in Narnia or wherever. Kind of bananas, really.

Snap’s investing big—how much, nobody knows. But Niantic’s getting a boatload of new data for VPS, and Snap’s platforms are gonna get all these sweet new location features. I imagine it’s like zooming out on your Snap map and finding this whole AR wonderland waiting for you to jump in.

Niantic’s been all about using our scans and data for ages with games like Ingress and Pokémon. Now, they’ve shed their gaming skin to focus on this VPS project. They’re calling themselves Niantic Spatial now. Sounds fancy, right? And with Snapchat’s millions of active users, they’re leapfrogging into being the big brains of geospatial AR data.

Snap Spectacles might just be a baby now, but with the Snapchat crowd, they’re all set to bring this AR universe to life. Magic glasses, anyone?