- Niantic Spatial is partnering with Coco Robotics to power navigation for autonomous delivery robots using a Visual Positioning System (VPS).
- The underlying mapping technology was partially built from optional scans submitted by players of Pokémon Go over many years.
- This vision-based system helps robots navigate where GPS struggles, addressing challenges in dense urban environments.
- Critics argue the dataset was built by users who may not have understood the future commercial applications of their contributions.
Niantic Spatial is now guiding delivery robots through city streets using mapping data that was crowdsourced from millions of Pokémon Go players, according to a recent report by MIT Technology Review. The San Francisco-based company spun off from Niantic Inc in May 2025 and partnered with Coco Robotics in February to provide navigation for its autonomous delivery machines.
Released in 2016, Pokémon Go encouraged players to scan real-world landmarks like statues and buildings to improve the game’s augmented reality. Consequently, these voluntary, anonymized scans helped build the initial dataset for Niantic Spatial‘s Visual Positioning System. A company spokesperson stated, “Our initial VPS was built using scans that users choose to take in games—but no single source defines the model.”
This technology is critical because GPS signals are often unreliable in urban canyons. Meanwhile, AI and robotics developers are working to give machines a more accurate sense of their surroundings so they can navigate without relying solely on satellite data.
However, the origin of this spatial AI dataset has drawn criticism from observers. One user wrote on X, “143 million people thought they were catching Pokémon. They were actually building one of the largest real-world visual datasets in AI history.” Another commentary highlighted the clever incentive design, noting the game turned players into “unpaid edge-case hunters.”
Despite these concerns, Niantic reiterated that scanning was always optional and data was not tied to player accounts. The company now leverages this scalable, detailed visual mapping to help Coco Robotics‘ machines deliver food and retail orders in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Helsinki.
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