Capture
Niantic Spatial’s Capture tools and services connect AI to the real world by collecting high-resolution 3D data — the foundation of Niantic Spatial’s Large Geospatial Model — and supports multiple workflows: Scaniverse, On-Demand Data Capture, and Bring Your Own Data (BYOD) integrations.
Niantic Spatial Capture enables high-fidelity 3D inputs for reconstruction, localization, and real-world understanding, turning real-world data into the foundation for spatial intelligence.
Scaniverse
Scaniverse has evolved from a market-leading mobile 3D scanning app into a scalable spatial data ingestion service, enabling everyone from creators to field teams to capture and operationalize real-world environments with precision and at scale.
Greenwich Power Station
Key Capabilities
Export or integrate seamlessly: Export scans in standard 3D formats - including our open-source SPZ format, reducing file size by 90%.
High-fidelity 3D scanning: Capture detailed 3D scans from iOS and Android devices today plus data from 360° cameras and drones. No expensive equipment or specialized training required.
Photorealistic results: Generate Gaussian Splats and meshes processed efficiently on-device.
Built for Niantic Spatial pipelines: Connect directly with Niantic Spatial’s reconstruction and localization workflows.
Collaborative tools: Team-based scanning and data management.
Note: Enterprise features now available on web, iOS, and Android.
On-Demand Data Capture
Our on-demand data capture service supports geospatial capture at any scale, enabling VPS coverage, digital twin creation, and spatial understanding.
Embarcadero San Francisco
For organizations needing large-area or complex-site capture, Niantic Spatial offers full-service data acquisition workflows. Trained operators collect and process geospatial data at any scale.
Key Benefits
Full end-to-end project management: We manage every stage of data capture, from planning to delivery, using years of 3D scanning expertise across consumer devices, drones, and mobile mapping.
Mission-Critical Accuracy: Our team uses multi-sensor hardware to deliver geo-referenced, centimeter-level accuracy for enterprise-grade applications.
Turnkey, Optimized Assets: We manage the entire workflow delivering a fully processed, high-fidelity digital twin, not just raw data.
Enterprise Privacy by Default: Your data stays private and secure, processed and stored exclusively for your organization.
Bring Your Own Data (BYOD)
Integrate your own imagery, scans, and telemetry. Niantic Spatial Capture is data-source agnostic, enabling organizations to connect drone imagery, LiDAR scans, or sensor datasets.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a 3D scan?
+
A 3D scan is a digital representation of a real object, scene, or location created from captured imagery and sensor data. Niantic Spatial Capture collects high-resolution 3D data from ground and aerial sources, creating inputs that can be used for reconstruction, localization, and real-world understanding. Depending on the workflow, the result can include meshes, Gaussian splats, localization maps, or a high-fidelity digital twin.
How does 3D scanning work?
+
3D scanning captures overlapping views of an object, scene, or location and combines them with available sensor and positioning data to build a spatial asset. Niantic Spatial's capture workflows collect the source data, while its reconstruction pipeline aligns captures, estimates geometry, and can georeference the result. The quality of the final asset depends on the coverage and quality of the captured data and the downstream processing workflow.
What devices and data sources can be used for 3D scanning?
+
Niantic Spatial supports 3D capture from iOS and Android devices, as well as 360 cameras and drones. Its BYOD workflow can also connect an organization's own imagery, scans, telemetry, drone imagery, LiDAR scans, or other sensor datasets. This device-agnostic approach lets teams choose capture hardware based on the environment, coverage needs, and data they already have rather than standardizing every project on one device.
What is the difference between Scaniverse, on-demand capture, and BYOD?
+
Scaniverse is the mobile and web workflow for teams that want to capture and manage spatial data directly. On-Demand Data Capture is a full-service option for large-area or complex-site projects, with trained operators managing capture and processing end to end. BYOD lets organizations integrate their own imagery, scans, and telemetry. Together, the three paths cover self-service capture, managed acquisition, and integration with existing data.
How accurate are Niantic Spatial 3D scans?
+
Accuracy depends on the capture method, sensor mix, coverage, and processing workflow. For large-area or complex-site projects, Niantic Spatial's on-demand service is designed to deliver geo-referenced, centimeter-level accuracy using multi-sensor hardware. Scaniverse provides high-fidelity mobile scanning, while BYOD supports an organization's own data sources. These qualifications matter: “centimeter-level” describes the documented on-demand enterprise workflow, not every scan captured in every condition.
What outputs can a 3D scan produce?
+
A 3D scan can produce photorealistic Gaussian splats and meshes, and can feed reconstruction and localization workflows. Depending on the capture type and processing path, assets can be exported in formats such as SPZ and USDZ. SPZ is Niantic Spatial’s open-source Gaussian-splat format, designed to reduce file size for more efficient storage and delivery; USDZ is a simulation-oriented package that can combine a Gaussian splat with a mesh for workflows such as NVIDIA Isaac Sim. With additional processing and alignment, captures can also become geo-referenced digital twins, VPS maps, or assets for visualization, simulation, inspection, and planning.
What are 3D scans used for?
+
3D scans provide the real-world data foundation for reconstruction, localization, and spatial understanding. Enterprise teams can use the resulting assets for digital twin creation, VPS coverage, site surveys, infrastructure inspection, remote operations, robotics navigation, simulation, and training. Niantic Spatial's reconstruction work is designed to turn these captured inputs into geometrically useful, georeferenced scenes that people and machines can visualize, analyze, and operate against.