Snap Inc. and Niantic’s New Partnership: A Significant Step for City-scale AR Positioning and Experiences

Hey, so, I was just reading this thing about Snap Inc. — you know, the Snapchat folks? They’ve decided to buddy up with Niantic Spatial. Yeah, the same Niantic behind Pokémon Go. Apparently, they’re doing some magic to make Snapchat and Spectacles smarter with city-scale maps. Sounds sci-fi, right?

I mean, think about it — AR devices, they usually just figure out where they are in a room, like finding their bearings at a party. But when you want them to hang out together, like a shared universe kinda deal, they need a universal map. Like, “Hey, does your virtual concert line up with mine over in Times Square?”

Niantic’s been on this for ages. Their Visual Positioning System — VPS for short — is like the VIP ticket. GPS is too broad. You’d end up in someone’s backyard instead of a concert if it relied on that. But VPS? It’s tight. Synchronizes devices, so everyone sees that AR saucer landing on the same rooftop.

Now Snap’s jumping in, bringing this to Snapchat and Spectacles. They even dropped a video showing off what big dreams might look like — virtual gigs, magical portals opening at that weird park bench no one ever uses. And don’t get me started on the AR lenses; they’re about to live in the wild, man. Developers can plop them right into the world, making them real. Well, almost.

Oh, there’s some business jazz, too. Snap threw some cash Niantic’s way, apparently. Deep pockets meet wild ideas. Win-win, right? Snap gets some of the snazziest geospatial tech, while Niantic could drown in data. In a good way, I suppose. Users will be feeding it, whether intentionally or just trying out some AR stuff. Contributing scans unlocks more lenses, so it feels like unlocking a secret level in a game.

Remember Ingress? Or when Pokémon Go mania struck? Niantic’s no newbie to this game of geo-wizardry. Now they’re serious about VPS, enough to start calling it Niantic Spatial.

Anyway, with Snap’s army of Snapchatters — like a billion or so? — this could boost their VR map thingy real quick. Spectacles might still be figuring things out, but combine Snap’s reach with Niantic’s know-how, and who knows where it’ll take us. AR world domination? Maybe. Or maybe just some fun new ways to get distracted on a Sunday afternoon. Who knows.