Pokemon Go Data Trains AI for Military Drone Navigation

User-generated data from the popular augmented reality game "Pokemon Go" is being repurposed to train artificial intelligence models, with the goal of assisting military drones in navigating contested operational areas. Niantic, the game's developer, is collaborating with Vantor, a company specializing in spatial detection software for drones, to achieve this objective.

The initiative aims to address critical weaknesses in modern warfare, particularly in environments where GPS signals are unreliable due to jamming, spoofing, or electronic countermeasures. In such scenarios, autonomous systems and combat teams can lose their ability to maintain situational awareness, pinpoint locations, or communicate effectively.

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This partnership addresses major weaknesses in modern warfare, including GPS unavailability, electronic deception, jamming, and blocking. When satellite signals are disrupted, autonomous systems and combat teams lose their ability to locate, communicate, or maintain precise situational awareness.

"Pokemon Go," launched in 2016, allows players to use their phone cameras to find and capture virtual creatures in real-world settings. A feature introduced in 2021, known as "PokeStops," incentivized players to scan real-world locations, uploading video data as part of the process. Niantic reported over 800 million global downloads by 2018.

Niantic stated that the "AR Scans" data was voluntarily submitted by players who opted into the feature, operating under the terms of service and privacy policies applicable at the time. This partnership is currently in its early stages, with the potential to significantly enhance drone capabilities in challenging operational environments.

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The AR Scans collected by Pokemon Go were all actively submitted by players who chose this feature, subject to the terms of service and privacy policies applicable at the time.