要点
- Pokémon Go 玩家自愿创建了数百万份 3D 扫描数据，用于训练 Niantic Spatial 的 AI 模型，以实现不依赖 GPS 的基于摄像头的导航。
- Niantic Spatial 目前正与美国国防承包商 Vantor 合作。双方的技术旨在卫星信号被干扰或欺骗时，仍能让无人机和自主系统保持正确航向。
- Vantor 近期还拿下了一份美国陆军合同，价值最高达 2.17 亿美元，用于提供 3D 地形数据。
来自 Pokémon Go 玩家的自愿 AR 扫描数据被用于训练 Niantic 的空间 AI 模型。这项技术目前正与一家美国国防承包商的软件相结合，用于无 GPS 导航。
据 《每日电讯报》报道（基于荷兰报纸《忠诚报》的报道），Pokémon Go 玩家收集的数据被用于训练一个可能支持军用无人机的 AI 模型。
这要追溯到 2021 年的一次更新。开发商 Niantic 在游戏中加入了激励措施，鼓励玩家用智能手机扫描现实世界中的地点。据 DroneXL 网站称，随后数百万用户扫描了街道、建筑、公园和树木，生成了数十亿个视觉地图数据点。参与为自愿选择加入，且已收集了相关许可。
Niantic 分拆出来的公司 Niantic Spatial 将这些扫描数据转化为一张大规模 3D 地图，在卫星信号不可用时依然能够运作。机器可以利用摄像头进行自身定位和导航，无需 GPS。
从手机游戏到国防合作
2025 年 12 月，Niantic Spatial 宣布与 Vantor 建立合作伙伴关系。Vantor 是一家美国国防情报公司，为无人机（包括军用无人机）构建空间探测软件。公告称，此次合作旨在应对 GPS 拒止、欺骗、干扰和压制等问题。当卫星信号受到破坏时，自主系统和野外团队就会失去方位。
在技术层面，两家公司正在将 Niantic 的地面级视觉定位系统与 Vantor 的 Raptor 软件及其基于二十多年卫星影像构建的 3D 地形数据相结合。其成果是为无人机、车辆和 AR 头显提供一套共享坐标系。根据一篇 Niantic Spatial 博客文章，早期测试显示误差最多降低 70%，精度约为 1.5 米。该视觉系统对标准信号干扰器免疫。
没有直接的数据交接，但这些扫描数据训练了基础模型
两家公司都向Guardian Australia表示，游戏中的地面扫描数据并未直接交给 Vantor。这些数据被用于训练 Niantic 的基础模型。Niantic Spatial 的一位发言人强调，这些 AR 扫描是由选择开启该功能的玩家自愿提交的，并受当时生效的隐私政策和服务条款约束。
2026 年 2 月，Vantor 还拿下了一份美国陆军合同，价值最高达 2.17 亿美元，用于 One World Terrain 项目。该项目聚焦于为陆军的合成训练环境提供高精度 3D 地形数据——用于逼真的模拟和任务演练。目前没有公开证据表明 Pokémon Go 的扫描数据会被纳入这份具体合同。在乌克兰和伊朗的战争中，GPS 干扰和欺骗已被用于扰乱自杀式无人机、侦察无人机和 GPS 制导导弹。
Niantic 最近将其游戏部门与地理空间 AI 业务拆分。2025 年 3 月，沙特支持的 Scopely 以 35 亿美元收购了游戏业务，而 Niantic Spatial 则作为一家专注于空间 AI 模型的独立公司继续运营。
Key Points
- Pokémon Go players voluntarily created millions of 3D scans that trained Niantic Spatial's AI models for camera-based navigation without GPS.
- Niantic Spatial is now partnering with US defense contractor Vantor. Together, their technologies aim to keep drones and autonomous systems on course when satellite signals are jammed or spoofed.
- Vantor also recently landed a US Army contract worth up to $217 million for 3D terrain data.
Volunteer AR scans from Pokémon Go players fed into Niantic's spatial AI models. That technology is now being combined with a US defense contractor's software for GPS-free navigation.
Data collected by Pokémon Go players went into training an AI model that could support military drones, according to a report by the Telegraph (based on reporting by the Dutch newspaper Trouw).
It goes back to a 2021 update. Developer Niantic added in-game incentives for players to scan real-world locations with their smartphones. Millions of users then scanned streets, buildings, parks, and trees, generating billions of visual mapping data points, according to the website DroneXL. Participation was opt-in, and permissions were collected.
Niantic's spin-off, Niantic Spatial, turned those scans into a large-scale 3D map that works when satellite signals aren't available. Machines can use cameras to locate themselves and navigate, no GPS needed.
From mobile game to defense partnership
In December 2025, Niantic Spatial announced a partnership with Vantor, a US defense intelligence firm that builds spatial detection software for drones, including military UAVs. The partnership addresses GPS denial, spoofing, interference, and jamming, the announcement said. When satellite signals are compromised, autonomous systems and field teams lose their bearings.
On the technical side, the two companies are combining Niantic's ground-level Visual Positioning System with Vantor's Raptor software and its 3D terrain data built from over two decades of satellite imagery. The result is a shared coordinate system for drones, vehicles, and AR headsets. Early tests showed error reduction of up to 70 percent and accuracy of about 1.5 meters, according to a Niantic Spatial blog post. The visual system is immune to standard signal jammers.
No direct data handoff, but the scans trained the foundation models
Both companies told Guardian Australia that the ground-level scans from the game were not handed directly to Vantor. Instead, they were used to train Niantic's foundation models. A Niantic Spatial spokesperson stressed that the AR scans were submitted voluntarily by players who opted into the feature and were covered by the privacy and terms-of-service policies in place at the time.
In February 2026, Vantor also landed a US Army contract worth up to $217 million for the One World Terrain program. That effort focuses on high-precision 3D terrain data for the Army's Synthetic Training Environment - realistic simulation and mission rehearsal. There's no public evidence that Pokémon Go scans will be part of that specific contract. GPS jamming and spoofing are already being used in the wars in Ukraine and Iran to throw off kamikaze drones, reconnaissance drones, and GPS-guided missiles.
Niantic recently split its gaming division from its geospatial AI business. In March 2025, Saudi-backed Scopely acquired the games side for $3.5 billion, while Niantic Spatial continues as a standalone company focused on spatial AI models.