Niantic, the very happy progenitor of Pokemon Go, has announcement on March 10 the takeover of 8th Wall. Founded in 2016, the company offers tools to help developers simply create augmented reality effects.
Augmented reality at the service of the “metaverse of reality”
8th Wall is one of the world’s first online augmented reality development platforms. It is compatible with iOS and Android smartphones, computers, AR/VR headsets. It claims to have enabled the creation of 50,000 augmented reality experiences, some of which serve leading companies: LEGO, Netflix, Microsoft, Dior, Nike.
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Its founder and CEO, Erik Murphy-Chutoria asserts this raison d’être of his company, ” We started 8th Wall to build powerful computer vision technology that would allow developers to create AR applications that could work anywhere seamlessly “.
This speech is enough to attract the attention of John Hank, the founder and CEO of Niantic. The latter had taken a position for a “metaverse of the real world”. In opposition to Meta’s approach, even before Mark Zuckerberg’s strategic reorientation, he defends the idea of digital in communion with outdoor activities.
What could be more logical, strategically, for a company that has built its success on the always very lucrative Pokemon Go experience. Niantic sees itself at the heart of the development of augmented reality as explained by Brian McClendon, senior vice president of engineering , mapping and augmented reality from Niantic, “ With our Lightship platform, launched globally last November, we offer all developers the world’s largest immersive canvas to bring their large-scale creations to life. “.
Niantic and 8th Wall seem to be made for each other
Niantic has had some setbacks, most notably with Pokemon Go’s little sibling, Harry Potter Wizards Unite. That doesn’t stop the company from believing deeply in the potential of augmented reality.
The consistency of the operation carried out by Niantic is obvious, ” 8th Wall greatly complements our vision for Lightship, and we plan to extend our developer platform tools with their proven WebAR technology. “, decrypts Brian McClendon.
8th Wall will retain its autonomy once the deal closes. Financial details of the takeover were not disclosed. Niantic has the means in any case, thanks to the raising of 300 million dollars from Coatue in November. The company is now valued at $9 billion.