You walk down the sidewalk, phone in hand, scanning for Pokémon. When a Squirtle pops up a few feet away, you quickly throw a Poké Ball at it and then snap a pic. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch the creature. But you aren’t just adding to your Pokémon GO collection. You’re helping to train delivery robots!
Since 2016, people have used the Pokémon GO app to battle and catch Squirtle and other characters with their phones. In the process, they have generated billions of photos and videos of intersections, storefronts, and other city spots. Now Niantic Spatial, part of the company that created the game, is turning the data into detailed photo maps that help food delivery robots navigate cities.
The robots know where they are by looking at nearby landmarks and comparing them with the Pokémon GO images. The data also allows the bots to avoid potholes and other hazards that could get them stuck—and keep you hungry!
The Pokémon-powered bots have already been rolled out in cities including Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California. So in the future, when a piping hot pizza is delivered to your door, you might want to thank Pikachu.
—Brooke Ross