Niantic Spatial and Aechelon Technology Partner to Enhance U.S. Coast Guard Training
Niantic Spatial and Aechelon Technology Partner to Enhance U.S. Coast Guard Training with Advanced 3D Flight Simulation and Geospatial AI
In this deployment with the United States Coast Guard (USCG), Aechelon’s flight simulator image generators will integrate Niantic Spatial’s technology to evaluate and scan critical locations such as helicopter landing zones. This collaboration has the potential to equip the USCG with highly detailed, continuously updated 3D models of mission-critical areas, dramatically improving situational awareness in dangerous environments, enhancing the effectiveness and safety of pilot and rescue crew training.
"By combining our platform to scan, visualize and understand the world with Aechelon's simulation technology, we can provide emergency and first responders the most accurate understanding of the environments in which they operate,” said Brian McClendon, Niantic Spatial’s Chief Technology Officer. “Geospatial understanding unlocks a new level of situational awareness that allows teams to plan and execute missions with greater confidence and safety.”
"Aechelon has spent decades creating the most realistic synthetic environments for mission-critical training," said Nacho Sanz-Pastor, CEO and President, Aechelon Technology. "The challenge has always been keeping pace with changes in the physical world. Niantic Spatial’s technology plays a crucial role in addressing specific use cases, and when combined with our own AI-driven, world-wide multi-sensor baseline, it becomes a powerful solution.”
A before and after image showing how Niantic Spatial's scanning and reconstruction technology can be used to add high-fidelity visualizations.
Future phases may also allow first responders to scan new, unmapped landing zones on-site and transmit that data to incoming aircrews in real time, giving them a new level of awareness of what to expect when they arrive.
A future goal of the collaboration is to explore integrating forthcoming versions of Niantic Spatial's Visual Positioning System (VPS) with Aechelon’s simulation systems. In GPS-denied environments where satellite signals are unavailable or compromised, VPS will allow ground teams to achieve centimeter-level localization and navigation. This capability is critical for complex and time-sensitive search-and-rescue operations.
About Aechelon Technology
Aechelon is a global leader in simulation and training systems, specializing in geo-specific flight simulators and physics-based sensor AI training. Its cutting-edge Synthetic Reality platform replicates real-world environments with unmatched precision, enabling both humans and machines to operate in scenarios of extraordinary detail. This technology allows pilots and emergency responders to train for complex, high-stakes situations in immersive, ultra-realistic virtual settings.