Niantic has posted a video on YouTube showing off some new technology they are working on for use in their upcoming games. The technical demo video showcases Pikachu and Eevee running around and weaving around real world objects.
Codename: Niantic Occlusion - Real World AR Occlusion featuring Pikachu and Eevee
The recently acquired Matrix Mill team at Niantic has spent years building and perfecting deep neural networks that can infer information about the surrounding world from one or more cameras. This technology redefines how machines see and understand the 3D world and more importantly, how digital objects can interact with the real elements of it. Using computer vision and deep learning we are able to develop techniques to understand 3D space enabling much more realistic Augmented Reality (AR) interactions than are currently possible. In the above AR experience of Codename: Niantic Occlusion, you can see Pikachu and Eevee weaving through and around different objects in the real world, dodging feet and hiding behind planters. This level of integration into the environment around us is a proof-of-concept that excites us about the future of AR.
YouTube Clip - Real World AR Occlusion featuring Pikachu and Eevee
