The Transformative Power of Outdoor Exploration

Video games have long been maligned for contributing to the already sedentary lifestyle of most modern people. But our first interactions with play during childhood—pretend games and imaginative adventures—are inherently physical. Cue the arrival of Pokémon GO, a pioneer in location-based gaming that has brought hundreds of millions of players back into the great outdoors.

In this episode, co-hosts Moritz Baier-Lentz and Hemal Thaker talk with John Hanke, Founder and CEO of Niantic Spatial, the developer behind Pokémon GO. John shares how his history at Google Maps, early location-based experiences like Ingress, and Niantic Spatial’s ambitions have shaped a company that’s known for its games, but has—along the way—built geospatial models for blending the real and virtual worlds. The three also explore the evolution of location-based games beyond phones, making AI “street smart,” and Niantic Spatial’s progress in building a map of our world that’s designed for the understanding of machines, including humanoid robots.