Niantic has just acquired the Scaniverse app, an application that performs a 3D scan of maps. The company hopes to apply this 3D scanning technology to further enhance the game’s map Pokémon GO, a device that Niantic considers essential to guarantee players a playful experience that is as realistic as possible.
Niantic acquires new 3D scanning technology for Pokémon GO
Despite the recent acquisition, Niantic has already confirmed that Scaniverse it will remain present on the Apple App Store as a stand-alone App and will continue to be supported by the company in the future. Again according to what the company published: “one of Niantic’s goals is to build a detailed and ever-changing 3D map of the world, a step that is considered fundamental to enable true and rich augmented reality experiences, especially considering devices such as AR glasses “.
As Niantic relies heavily on augmented reality to improve over time, as its games depend on it, the company is starting to move to implement a realistic 3D map of the world. It is no coincidence that in 2020, for example, Niantic launched a function of AR mapping for Pokémon GO users in some Pokéstops around the world. Thanks to this feature, players are able to receive some rewards when they scan a Pokéstop following these four points:
- A 20-30 second scan with the object the PokéStop refers to in the center of the frame and visible from top to bottom.
- A distance as fixed as possible between the user and the object.
- Walk 360 degrees around the PokéStop to scan it from all sides
- Scan at various times of the day
This should allow the company to implement a much more precise mapping of the various locations, thus avoiding running into phantom or simply unreachable points of interest.