Niantic, the developer behind Pokémon Go and the forthcoming Marvel World of Heroes, has launched a tool for developers to help them add augmented reality features to in-browser experiences. It’s a move it hopes will help kickstart what it calls the “real world” metaverse.
Lightspeed VPS for Web is a tool that uses Niantic’s visual positioning system technology to understand where a user is in the world and give them access to locational, relevant information. Developers can use it in their online applications.
They can add VPS-activated locations to Niantic’s constantly expanding AR map, or use that map of over 100,000 locations in their experiences.
The currently available locations have been put together over the last few years and include parks, paths, local businesses and more, not just obvious landmarks. They have been added by other developers, surveyors and even players of Pokémon Go.
The end result for consumers is that the use of Lightspeed VPS sould expand the amount of interactive AR games, utilities, and applications we see online. And, as they work in-browser, they can be accessed by different platforms.
Niantic says that Lightspeed VPS is now available to all “8th Wall” developers. We hope to see how they use it soon.