Pokemon GO Studio Niantic uses data to train delivery bots

Pokemon GO Creator Niantic said in March 2026 that it was working with other companies to train delivery robots using data captured by players. The 2016 smash hit mobile game, which sees players venture out into the real world and capture Pokémon lurking nearby, has racked up more than a billion downloads over the years. So many people are using it Pokemon GO To capture images from around the world, Niantic seems to have found a use for them.

Now known as Niantic Spatial, it is no longer owned or operated by Niantic. Pokemon GO. The popular mobile game was part of a $3.5 billion sale to Scopely in early 2025. Pokemon GO Niantic's entire library of mobile games got some people excited and others angry at the time. The future of the title was unknown, and fans were concerned about the uncertainty.

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On March 10, 2026, Niantic Spatial Pokemon GO We worked with a robotics startup company called Coco Robotics to help train delivery robots using data collected by players. Coco Robotics has about 1,000 suitcase-sized robots designed to transport and deliver pizza in busy urban environments. Common forms of travel data like GPS don't work well on their own for urban robots.

Our partnership with Niantic Spatial is intended to use millions of photo scans of real-world streets, landmarks, and buildings taken by Niantic Spatial. Pokemon GO As the player moves, they form a model that the robot's “brain” can refer to and use to navigate on its own. A world map created by combining GPS data and a world map. Scanning the player's photo is intended to help the robot navigate more efficiently and avoid getting lost. A game as popular as Pokemon GO It provided over 30 billion images to train the AI models used by the robots. What makes Niantic's images so useful is that their games It thrust players into the same hotspots across the city, where they all took photos of the same locations, but under different lighting and weather conditions and from a variety of angles.

Robots are already making inroads into the gaming industry, and with each passing year, it becomes more clear that robots will likely play a role in the world moving forward. It's likely that no one would have expected a video game company to use data collected from players to help train pizza delivery robots. use of pokemon A mobile game that helps train robots showcases the creative solutions engineers are devising to further advance AI and robotics.

In a world where players are constantly concerned about their privacy and data usage, it's worth noting that Niantic hasn't been secretly capturing data from players' phones for years. All data used is intentionally captured. Pokemon GO They were playing actively. It will be interesting to see if there are other innovative ways to utilize the unique data collected. Pokemon GO In the future.