Snap Inc. and Niantic’s New Partnership Could Revolutionize City-Scale AR Positioning and Experiences

Sure, let’s dive in—without sounding like some polished pro.

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Alright, here’s this wild story of Snap Inc. and Niantic—y’know, the Snapchat folks and the AR glasses crew at Spectacles? They’ve gotten chummy with this Niantic Spatial biz. It’s like tech folks mingling over city maps or something. Not just plain maps though, we’re talking city-scale GPS on steroids for AR stuff. So, Snap gets super accurate map stuff, Niantic nabs tons of data for their ‘Visual Positioning System’ thing. Win-win, right? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just my coffee talking.

So here’s the thing with AR gadgets now—they’re already good at figuring out which room they’re vibing in. Like, they see the furniture, walls, or whatever and say, “Yeah, I’m moving this way.” Cool, right? But get this: if you wanna have two devices playing together, like some kind of synchronized dance-off, they both need to know where they are not just in the room but in relation to each other. It’s like trying to do a waltz if you’re not on the same floor. You need a common map—a shared reality, if you will.

That’s where Niantic’s big vision comes in, their ‘Visual Positioning System’ or VPS if you wanna sound all techy at parties. Instead of boring ol’ GPS—too clunky, really—VPS wants AR doohickeys to share a spatial map. Means they get to know, “Hey! We’re both chilling here, same place, same time.” Add virtual stuff like concerts or portals. Heck yeah, portals. And wow, imagine watching it happen synchronized with your buddy next to you.

Anyway—not wait, where was I? Oh yeah, Snapchat and Niantipals are dreaming up these city-wide AR experiences. They even made some vid to show it off. So, developers could have AR that doesn’t just sit on your camera view, but melds with real life—like a magic show on the city streets. Mind boggling? Probably, but in a good way.

Right, so here’s a kicker, or a twist—or intel, whatever: Snap’s making some secretive cash injection into Niantic. Strategic partner mumbo jumbo, as they say. But totally, Snap gets this kick-butt positioning. Niantic gets peeps scanning the world, keeping their maps nifty and up to date. You get the drift. Scan to play, play to scan, everyone wins, I guess?

Niantic’s kinda old school when it comes to user-generated doodads. Remember Ingress, Pokémon Go? Yeah, back then, people running all over the place, gathering data like squirrels on caffeine. They’ve ditched gaming (kinda), diving into VPS world. So now, snaps and AR glasses still finding their footing, but like—imagine, 900 million Snapchatters prancing around, augmenting reality. The future’s downright funky, huh?

There ya have it. A messy riff on what these techies are cookin’ up. The world becoming one big AR playground. What’s next? I dunno. Do AR pigeons get a say? Anyway, keep those eyes peeled—or whatever.

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