Niantic was originally founded to bring augmented reality (AR) technologies to the devices people actually use -- including smartphones -- rather than

Niantic Researchers Reveal New Depth Technology to Transform Any Smartphone Into a Powerful 3D Mapping Tool – Niantic

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2021-06-23 18:00:10

Niantic was originally founded to bring augmented reality (AR) technologies to the devices people actually use -- including smartphones -- rather than waiting for AR wearables that were years away. This focus on available devices has helped AR reach large audiences: Pokémon GO has been downloaded over one billion times and was named one of Apple’s apps of the year for 2020 for “reinventing play.” Tens of millions of Niantic Explorers around the world play our games, which also include Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Ingress.

The success of our games led us to develop an advanced AR platform for third-party developers. Niantic Lightship dramatically simplifies AR development, enabling creative teams to focus on designing the games and experiences they want to build, rather than worrying about the enabling code, networks, platforms, and individual devices. We’re constantly updating Lightship with new and improved technologies to push AR forward.

To that end, the Niantic Research Team is excited to announce a major breakthrough in AR technology. At this week’s Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), we are presenting groundbreaking research that dramatically improves the depth-sensing capabilities of smartphones for AR and 3D mapping experiences. Moreover, instead of waiting years to commercialize the research, we are making this cutting-edge technology available right away to any AR creator through the Niantic Lightship ARDK.