Pokémon Go developer Niantic is tough at work constructing and coaching an AI to basically have the ability to auto-complete real-world places with solely a restricted quantity of data. And it is utilizing knowledge collected by Pokémon Go gamers to do it.
In an official blog post noticed by Garbage Day and reported on by 404 Media, Niantic revealed that it is constructing one thing referred to as a “Large Geospatial Model.” You might already know what a “Large Language Model” is – it is Chat GPT. It’s an AI that’s skilled on huge quantities of present textual content in order that it may possibly then produce textual content by itself that sounds regular, and conceivably like what a person may need to hear.
A Large Geospatial Model is basically the identical concept, however utilized to the bodily world. It’s skilled on what real-world locations seem like (a church, a park, a home, and so forth), after which it may possibly use that knowledge to supply info on what precise locations it hasn’t seen but may seem like. Niantic claimed this can be helpful for know-how reminiscent of AR glasses, robotics, content material creation, and different issues.
Or as Niantic put it:
Imagine your self standing behind a church. Let us assume the closest native mannequin has seen solely the entrance entrance of that church, and thus, it will be unable to inform you the place you might be. The mannequin has by no means seen the again of that constructing. But on a worldwide scale, we’ve got seen lots of church buildings, 1000’s of them, all captured by their respective native fashions at different locations worldwide. No church is identical, however many share frequent traits. An LGM [Large Geospatial Model] is a strategy to entry that distributed data.
But to make this work, Niantic wants a number of knowledge to coach that AI on, and it may possibly solely achieve this a lot by itself. Google’s been amassing location knowledge for years by way of Google Maps and people humorous automobiles it makes use of to get avenue view information, however that is not enough on this case. Cars can solely drive on roads, and Niantic wants pedestrian info from locations automobiles cannot go. Fortunately, Niantic has 1000’s of individuals globally pointing their telephones at issues and sending that info again by way of its varied initiatives and apps, Pokémon Go included.
Specifically, Niantic mentioned in its publish that it has been constructing one thing referred to as a Visual Positioning System (VPS), a know-how that makes use of a picture from a cellphone to find out the place and orientation of a location on a 3D map. The know-how is meant to permit customers to place themselves on this planet with “centimeter-level accuracy,” which permits them to then see digital content material overlayed on the bodily world “exactly and realistically.” Again, from Niantic:
This content material is persistent in that it stays in a location after you’ve left, and it’s then shareable with others. For instance, we just lately began rolling out an experimental characteristic in Pokémon GO, referred to as Pokémon Playgrounds, the place the person can place Pokémon at a particular location, and they’re going to stay there for others to see and work together with.
But all of this know-how exists as a result of customers are continually scanning the world with their telephones whereas utilizing Niantic’s apps, together with Pokémon Go, and have been for years now. Niantic mentioned it at the moment has 10 million scanned places world wide, a million usable with its VPS service, and will get a million new scans each single week containing tons of of discrete photos. That’s lots of knowledge.
For now, Niantic mentioned it is utilizing the info explicitly to develop its personal applied sciences that it then turns round and implements into its present merchandise. However, in recent times there have been numerous concerns over how firms gather knowledge, use it to coach AI, and what these AI fashions may ultimately be used for. While immediately Niantic’s LGM work could be restricted to letting us drop cute Pokémon fashions on this planet for different individuals to search out, tomorrow its makes use of might develop more and more complicated.
IGN has reached out to Niantic for remark.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can discover her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a narrative tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
