Niantic Spatial Joins Khronos Group to Advance Geospatial AI and 3D Standards

Niantic Spatial, a pioneer in geospatial AI, today announced it has joined the Khronos® Group as a Contributor member. Niantic Spatial will participate in the 3D Formats Working Group, lending its expertise in geospatial technology and computer vision to the advancement of open standards, such as glTF for 3D content, with a particular focus on the integration of Gaussian Splatting techniques for geospatial applications.

This move underscores Niantic Spatial's commitment to building a new kind of map, one that empowers both machines and people to understand and interact with the physical world in unprecedented ways. By collaborating with other industry leaders within the Khronos Group, Niantic Spatial aims to help shape the future of 3D asset delivery and ensure that emerging technologies like Gaussian Splatting are seamlessly integrated into the broader ecosystem.

"We are thrilled to join the Khronos Group and contribute to the important work of the 3D Formats Working Group," said Azad Balabanian, Sr. Product Manager at Niantic Spatial. "Open standards, like glTF, are crucial for establishing interoperability between file formats, 3D software, and geospatial platforms. Our experience in building a dynamic, 3D map of the world at planetary scale, and our work with technologies like Gaussian Splatting in Scaniverse, our Visual Positioning System (VPS) and Large Geospatial Models (LGM), gives us a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities in this space. We are particularly excited to collaborate on standards for Gaussian Splatting, a revolutionary technique that we believe will be instrumental in creating truly immersive and realistic geospatial experiences."

"We're delighted to welcome Niantic Spatial to the Khronos Group,” said Neil Trevett, Khronos Group President. “Their proven expertise in geospatial AI and planetary-scale 3D mapping brings invaluable real-world perspective to our 3D Formats Working Group. As we work to establish open standards for emerging technologies like Gaussian Splatting, Niantic Spatial's experience with cutting-edge applications like Scaniverse and their Visual Positioning System will help ensure our standards, such as glTF, meet the practical needs of developers creating the next generation of immersive geospatial experiences."

Niantic's membership represents a significant addition to Khronos Group's ecosystem of industry leaders advancing open 3D standards. Their unique combination of geospatial AI expertise and practical experience with Gaussian Splatting technology provides crucial industry perspective as Khronos works to build interoperability and accessibility across glTF and the broader 3D content ecosystem. Niantic’s participation will be particularly valuable as the industry navigates the standardization of Gaussian Splatting, helping to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and practical, deployable solutions.

Gaussian Splatting is a novel rendering technique that has the potential to revolutionize the creation and display of 3D scenes. Unlike traditional mesh-based approaches, Gaussian Splatting represents scenes using a multitude of 3D Gaussians, which can more accurately capture the complexities of real-world objects, including transparency and view-dependent effects. This results in highly realistic, photorealistic 3D scenes that can be rendered in real-time.

Niantic Spatial's core technology is built on a third-generation digital map and the Visual Positioning System (VPS), which delivers centimeter-level precision in real-world localization. The company is also developing a Large Geospatial Model (LGM) to provide a semantically rich, spatially grounded understanding of real-world locations. By contributing to the Khronos Group, Niantic Spatial aims to ensure that these powerful technologies can be leveraged by the entire industry through open and interoperable standards.

About Niantic Spatial

Niantic Spatial is a pioneer in geospatial AI, building technology that enables both people and machines to perceive and understand physical spaces in entirely new ways. Our core technology is built on a third-generation digital map, and the Visual Positioning System (VPS) delivers centimeter-level precision in real-world localization. We are developing a Large Geospatial Model (LGM) to deliver a semantically rich, spatially grounded understanding of real-world locations.

About The Khronos Group

The Khronos Group is an open, non-profit, member-driven consortium of over 170 industry-leading companies creating advanced, royalty-free interoperability standards for 3D graphics, machine learning, spatial computing, augmented and virtual reality, and parallel computing. Khronos activities include 3D Commerce™, ANARI™, glTF™, Kamaros™, NNEF™, OpenCL™, OpenGL®, OpenGL® ES, OpenVG™, OpenVX™, OpenXR™, Slang™, SPIR-V™, SYCL™, Vulkan®, and WebGL™. Khronos members drive the development and evolution of Khronos specifications and are able to accelerate the delivery of cutting-edge platforms and applications through early access to specification drafts and conformance tests.