‘Pokémon Go’ maker Niantic is helping others create AR metaverse apps

People can use the Metaverse to annotate the real world, turn a morning walk into augmented fitness parkour, collaborate on public toilet maps or even create their own Pokemon Go clones based on their favorite characters.

Niantic, the creator of Pokemon GO, today announced the launch of Lightship, an augmented reality development kit (ARDK) that will make augmented reality creation more accessible. The ARDK is designed to help developers create games using the same building blocks that Niantic uses to create Pokemon.

The new Lightship ARDK is available today on the Niantic Lightship website for all interested developers. Lightship ARDK includes tools designed to help developers create real-time 3D mesh maps using smartphone cameras as well as occlusion capabilities to hide virtual objects from their real counterparts.

Developers can use Ninatics' toolkit to generate real-time 3D grid maps so that applications can understand the surface and topography of the world around the device. Lightship provides a way to help developers understand these elements and build their own games and experiences around them.

In particular, there are plans to develop PokéStops and gyms to add depth to the game. The ARDK Lightship will contain many of the tools used in Niantis games such as Pokemon GO and Pikmin Bloom. With the release of the lightship ARDK, developers can create new projects such as Ingress, Pokemon GO and Pikmin Bloom.