In the digital age, Pokémon Go data (SMART Tech) has become more valuable than oil.
The world is rapidly moving toward a digital infrastructure where everything is mapped, tracked, modeled, and analyzed.
The race is no longer merely about information. It is about creating a real-time digital replica of the physical world itself.
And back with us today is an old friend, Scoob Martin, with his $0.50 cents worth (adjusted for inflation from WAR) about how alleged “innocent technology” is far creepier than you can imagine.
Let the Rant begin, Scooby!
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Hi James.
I’m sure you probably heard about how it was revealed that Pokémon Go data is being used for Drone Warfare.
My first thought was WTF.
And it reminded me how, back in 2016, Pokémon Go exploded across the world with hundreds of millions of kids and adults clamoring over themselves to walk around with GPS-enabled devices, cameras, and location tracking operating continuously.
They saw a harmless game…catching a Pikachu.
But I thought it was weird that people believed they were simply catching virtual creatures.
In reality, they were helping build an extraordinarily detailed digital reconstruction of the physical world.
Every building scanned, every landmark photographed, every street corner mapped became part of a massive geospatial database.
Even Niantic Spatial itself has acknowledged that its system has been trained using more than 30 billion images gathered through years of player participation.
It helped create one of the most sophisticated three-dimensional mapping systems ever assembled.
And what’s really creepy is , Niantic Spatial used those scans to build a visual positioning system capable of allowing robots and drones to navigate even when GPS signals are unavailable.
Researchers claim that this technology is now finding applications not only in commercial robotics but potentially in military systems as well.
Namely Drone Warfare.
But one of the most remarkable aspects of this story is that the public largely financed and built the database themselves.
They supplied the images. They supplied the location data. They supplied the training material and carried the cameras.
And they volunteered years of labor without realizing they were helping create a valuable artificial intelligence asset.
It was brilliant.
You convince people they are playing a game while simultaneously constructing one of the most comprehensive mapping projects in human history.
As a result, Pokémon Go data may help drones navigate even when GPS signals are jammed or unavailable.
Modern battlefields increasingly rely on electronic warfare, with both sides attempting to disrupt satellite navigation systems.
So, by training artificial intelligence on billions of images collected by players around the world, Niantic’s mapping technology allows machines to recognize buildings, roads, landmarks, and terrain visually rather than relying solely on GPS coordinates.
It gets worse…
In practical terms, that means a drone could potentially continue operating, identifying its location, and reaching its target even after traditional navigation systems have been disabled.
Few participants, if any, could have imagined that hunting for Pokémon would assist government kill machines.
Millions thought they were hunting Pikachu.
