Niantic wants to build a richer 3D map of the world, and will acquire Scaniverse in 2021 to do so.
Following a major update to the app, Scaniverse 4 will allow iOS users to scan landmarks by walking around them and recording a video for around one to three minutes. Niantic has had this functionality for some time, and has used it to build an extensive Visual Positioning System (VPS) that uses an augmented reality experience to pinpoint a user's location on a real-world map. Already, Niantic apps like Pokémon GO, Wayfarer, and Ingress have created in-game incentives for users to upload scans, but this update takes scanning even further technically.
Niantic VP of Engineering Brian McClendon told TechCrunch that Scaniverse currently uses a technique called Gaussian splatting, which captures more data points about objects, resulting in more accurate, richer, and faster rendering.
In today's TechCrunch Minute, we talk about why Niantic is investing in this technology and how it could impact apps like Pokémon GO.