Company:Niantic Spatial

From HandWiki
Niantic Spatial, Inc.
TypePrivate
Industry
FoundedMay 29, 2025; 9 months ago (2025-05-29)
FounderJohn Hanke
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
U.S.
Key people
  • John Hanke (CEO)
  • Brian McClendon (CTO)
  • Thomas Gewecke (COO)
  • Dennis Hwang (Vice President)
Websitenianticspatial.com

Niantic Spatial, Inc. (ny-AN-tik SPAY-shəl)[1] is an American-based geospatial artificial intelligence (AI) and spatial computing company headquartered in San Francisco. The company formed as a spin-off from Niantic in May 2025, following the sale of Niantic's games division which included Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now, to Scopely.[2]

History

Founding

The technology and team behind Niantic Spatial originated from Niantic, Inc., which initially formed as an internal startup at Google in 2010.[3] As Niantic grew, the company evolved along two complementary paths: one focused on creating augmented reality location-based games[4] and another dedicated to advancing AR, AI, and geospatial technology.[5]

On March 12, 2025, Niantic announced an agreement to sell its mobile games division for $3.5 billion to Scopely.[6] The deal was finalized[7] on May 29, 2025, and Niantic Spatial was spun out from the Scopely acquisition. Ingress and Peridot were restructured under Niantic Spatial. Niantic Spatial was initially capitalized with $250 million, consisting of $200 million from Niantic's balance sheet and a $50 million investment from Scopely.[8] All of Niantic's original investors remained shareholders in the new entity.

Niantic Spatial's founding leadership team includes John Hanke as chief executive officer, Brian McClendon as chief technology officer, and Thomas Gewecke as chief operating officer. Hanke and McClendon previously founded Keyhole[9] which became the foundation for Google Earth and Google Maps. Gewecke was previously a senior business executive with tenure at Warner Brothers and Sony Music.[10]

Corporate history

In June 2025, Snap Inc. invested an undisclosed amount of capital into Niantic Spatial. They also announced a multi-year partnership which will integrate Niantic Spatial's scanning technology and VPS into Snap's ecosystem and focus on jointly building a next-generation AI map.[11]

Meow Wolf announced they are teaming up with Niantic Spatial to bring the Meow Wolf Universe globally anywhere in the world using Niantic Spatial's AR and VPS technology.[12]

In September 2025, Aechelon Technology announced they are partnering to use Niantic Spatial's geospatial AI and reconstruction technology to enhance U.S. Coast Guard training by integrating real-world 3D scans into flight simulators.[13]

Hideo Kojima announced he is teaming up with Niantic Spatial to redefine immersive entertainment by bringing Kojima Productions' iconic interactive storytelling into the real world using Niantic Spatial's geospatial AI technology.[14]

Technology and applications

Niantic Spatial's platform services are powered by a large geospatial model (LGM), spatial counterparts to large language models (LLMs), meant to give machines a contextual understanding of space and structure.[15] Niantic Spatial's large geospatial model is built on a proprietary database of over 30 billion posed images that help aid learning language models with spatial reasoning.[16]

Niantic Spatial offers the Scaniverse app for mobile devices, which utilizes Gaussian splatting to capture 3D models of objects, spaces, and environments in real time.[17] Niantic Spatial also captures mapping data from aerial drones and a custom-built mapping device called Photon.[18] Localization focuses on positioning users, AI agents, and AR content in space. Niantic Spatial offers its Visual Positioning System (VPS) for centimeter-scale positioning, orientation, and tracking for millions of pre-mapped locations[19], including GPS-denied environments.[20]

Understanding focuses on providing real-time contextual awareness of the world. Niantic Spatial’s AI capabilities deliver this through per-pixel semantic analysis to classify environments into categories like ground and sky[21], and computer vision models that detect and track over 200 types of objects.

Niantic Spatial operates 8th Wall, a development platform that enables creators to build and publish interactive WebAR experiences. It provides a complete set of tools, including a cloud-based IDE and computer vision technology, allowing for the creation of immersive 3D and XR content that works across a wide range of devices without requiring an app.[22] In November 2025, it was announced that after seven years of operation, 8th Wall would be shut down. Existing projects on the platform will remain available until the services are closed in early 2027.[23]

Video games

Ingress, launched in 2012 and reworked into Unity in 2018, transferred to Niantic Spatial during its spin-off. Ingress is a global-scale version of capture the flag where players battle for control of virtual portals at real-world landmarks.[24]

Peridot, another Niantic intellectual property, includes a collection of products within its franchise, also transferred to Niantic Spatial during its spin-off. It is an AR and AI pet simulation game that launched on mobile devices in 2023.[25] The next products are a mixed-reality experience on Meta Quest[26] and Apple Vision Pro[27] called Hello, Dot, and an augmented-reality glasses experience on Snap's Spectacles called Peridot Beyond.[28]

References

  1. ↑ "'Pokemon Go' Owner Sells Games to Saudi Group for $3.5 Billion" (in en). Bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-12/-pokemon-go-owner-sells-games-to-saudi-group-for-3-5-billion. 
  2. ↑ Astle, Aaron (March 13, 2025). "Niantic Spatial spin-off nets $250m funding after Scopely acquisition" (in en). https://www.pocketgamer.biz/niantic-spatial-spin-off-gets-250m-funding-after-scopely-acquisition/. 
  3. ↑ Hern, Alex (August 14, 2015). "Niantic Labs departs from Google's Alphabet" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/14/niantic-labs-departs-google-alphabet-ingress. 
  4. ↑ Alumni, Ellen DaSilva. "Niantic Labs and Pokemon Go: Bringing AR to the Masses" (in en-US). https://d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit/submission/niantic-labs-and-pokemon-go-bringing-ar-to-the-masses/. 
  5. ↑ Heath, Alex (November 8, 2021). "Niantic launches platform to build 'real-world metaverse' apps" (in en-US). https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/8/22768925/niantic-lightship-developer-platform-john-hanke-pokemon-go. 
  6. ↑ "'Pokemon Go' maker Niantic to sell game division to Saudi-owned Scopely for $3.5 billion" (in en). Reuters. March 12, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/pokemon-go-maker-niantic-sell-game-division-saudi-owned-scopely-35-billion-2025-03-12/. 
  7. ↑ "Scopely to acquire Niantic games business, which includes "Pokémon GO," one of the most successful mobile games of all time" (in en). https://www.scopely.com/en/news/scopely-to-acquire-niantic-games-business-which-includes-pokemon-go-one-of-the-most-successful-mobile-games-of-all-time. 
  8. ↑ Levine, Adam. "Pokémon Go Is Driving a $4 Billion Spinoff. Those Game Maps Could Be AI Gold." (in en-us). https://www.barrons.com/articles/pokemon-go-niantic-ai-spatial-maps-8df446d9. 
  9. ↑ "Geological Society of America - Honors & Awards". https://www.geosociety.org/awards/10speeches/presMedal.htm. 
  10. ↑ "Thomas Gewecke – VRTL SUMMIT". https://www.vrtlsummit.com/speaker/thomas-geweke/. 
  11. ↑ Lang, Ben (June 20, 2025). "Snap Inc. & Niantic's New Partnership Could be a Big Moment for City-scale AR Positioning and Experiences" (in en-US). https://www.roadtovr.com/snapchat-niantic-spatial-partnership-vps/. 
  12. ↑ bio, See full. "Meow Wolf's Weird Physical Universe Is Planning to Extend Into Augmented Reality" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/meow-wolfs-weird-physical-universe-is-planning-to-extend-into-augmented-reality/. 
  13. ↑ "Niantic Spatial Partners With Aechelon on Coast Guard Training" (in en-US). September 8, 2025. https://www.auganix.org/xr-news-niantic-spatial-aechelon-us-coast-guard/. 
  14. ↑ Phillips, Tom (September 23, 2025). "Hideo Kojima Announces AR Project With Pokémon Go Creator Niantic Spatial" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/hideo-kojima-announces-ar-project-with-pokmon-go-creator-niantic-spatial. 
  15. ↑ "Why enterprise AI's next breakthrough lies in spatial intelligence" (in en). September 5, 2025. https://www.techradar.com/pro/why-enterprise-ais-next-breakthrough-lies-in-spatial-intelligence. 
  16. ↑ "Niantic ventures into the Geospatial with a purpose" (in en-US). May 30, 2025. https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/niantic-spatial-geospatial-focus-digital-physical-fusion. 
  17. ↑ Mehta, Ivan (August 26, 2024). "Niantic aims to build a richer 3D map of the world with a new version of Scaniverse app" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/26/niantic-aims-to-build-a-richer-3d-map-of-the-world-with-a-new-version-of-scanniverse-app/. 
  18. ↑ "Why AI has great vision but a terrible sense of direction" (in en). https://www.nianticspatial.com/en/blog/ground-truth-why-vps. 
  19. ↑ Heaney, David (August 11, 2025). "Niantic Spatial SDK Brings Outdoor VPS & Long-Distance Live Meshing To Quest 3" (in en). https://www.uploadvr.com/niantic-spatial-sdk-brings-outdoor-vps-live-meshing-semantic-segmentation-to-quest-3/. 
  20. ↑ McNabb, Ian (September 15, 2025). "Aechelon Technology Announces New Whole-Earth Digital Twin "Project Orbion"" (in en-US). https://dronelife.com/2025/09/15/aechelon-techology-announces-new-whole-earth-digital-twin-project-orbion/. 
  21. ↑ Hayden, Scott (November 8, 2021). "Niantic Kickstarts Its AR Metaverse with Release of Lightship SDK and $20M Developer Fund" (in en-US). https://www.roadtovr.com/niantic-lightship-sdk-developer-fund/. 
  22. ↑ Peters, Jay (March 10, 2022). "Niantic's 'largest acquisition to date' shows the company is still pushing on AR" (in en-US). https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/10/22971072/niantic-8th-wall-acquisition-largest-ar-augmented-reality-pokemon-go. 
  23. ↑ "8th Wall to Shut Down After Seven Years of Advancing WebAR" (in en). November 20, 2025. https://www.remixreality.com/8th-wall-to-shut-down-after-seven-years-of-advancing-webar/. 
  24. ↑ Roettgers, Janko (October 15, 2015). "Niantic Labs Raises $20 Million to Turn the World Into an Augmented Reality Playground" (in en-US). https://variety.com/2015/digital/news/niantic-labs-gets-20-million-for-pokemon-go-augmented-reality-1201617966/. 
  25. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (March 7, 2023). "Pokémon Go maker's new virtual pet game Peridot launches in May" (in en). https://www.polygon.com/23628959/niantic-peridot-game-release-date-android-ios/. 
  26. ↑ Hayden, Scott (May 9, 2025). "Niantic Spatial's Adorable Pet Sim 'Hello, Dot' Leaves Early Access on Quest 3" (in en-US). https://www.roadtovr.com/niantic-spatial-hello-dot-peridot-quest-3-release/. 
  27. ↑ Hamilton, Ian (November 18, 2024). "Niantic's Hello, Dot Arrives On Apple Vision Pro" (in en). https://www.uploadvr.com/niantics-hello-dot-arrives-on-apple-vision-pro/. 
  28. ↑ "A computer on your face? Snap and others still trying to make augmented reality glasses a reality" (in en-US). September 17, 2024. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-09-17/a-computer-on-your-face-snap-meta-still-think-ar-glasses-will-be-the-next-big-wearable. 



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