Startups aim to improve AR visualization tools for the future of AI

Nearly 20 years after Keyhole sold to Alphabet Inc. in a deal that would effectively establish Google Maps, the Augmented World Expo rallied around the potential of digital cartography in the era of AI and augmented reality in Long Beach the week of June 9.

The Take

S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan has long defined the metaverse as an array of innovations that change the way humans and machines interact with one another and with data. At AWE 2025, we saw the foundational tech for that convergence make significant advancements from established tech heavyweights and plucky startups.

After his keynote speech defining the parameters and potential of the newly minted Niantic Spatial, Chief Technology Officer Brian McClendon sat down with Kagan to go into more depth on topics such as large geospatial models, which use less data than existing digital mapping solutions to build more accurate depictions of physical space.

McClendon was part of the Keyhole team that joined Google in 2004 and would spin out as Niantic in 2015, leading to the creation of Pokémon Go. In May, the company carved out Pokémon Go and other gaming assets to sell to Scopely Inc., and now the Niantic Spatial team is back to working on foundational tech in visual positioning systems.

Niantic is well-positioned, so to speak, to return to this work because of how much geospatial data it collected while operating Pokémon Go. The team pointed out that Niantic Spatial retains access to that data even as the game operates under Scopely.

Niantic Spatial hopes more accurate, more thorough mapping data coupled with AI agents and AR visualizations will be valuable to developers, media companies, enterprises, and hardware vendors, with an array of business and consumer applications in mind. Warehouse logistics, location-based entertainment, and remote collaboration are a few of the off-the-shelf use cases.

Outside the convention center, a demo of its tech being shown on Snap Inc. Spectacles AR glasses took users on a guided tour of Long Beach's historic The Pike amusement center and answered specific questions about different landmarks through a language model.

Another mapping project has been going on at Metaversal Corp. as the company builds an open one-to-one digital twin of the solar system and Earth that will offer a viewport into the metaverse.

The company doing business as RP1 publicly launched the first "metaverse browser" at the show. Think of Chrome, but built specifically for 3D spatial experiences. RP1 CEO Sean Mann pitched it as a gateway to merging the digital and the physical planes into one interface.

For instance, Walmart Inc. could stand up a presence within the metaverse (on its own servers), viewable by the RP1 browser at the same location as its physical store. Inventory could be purchased through the metaverse browser, which would then be packaged by employees or robots. And after that inventory leaves the physical store, it could be tracked in the digital twin until it reaches the customer.

Another interesting turn on merging the digital and the physical worlds came in the form of Distance Technologies Oy's glasses-free AR, which effectively beams volumetric content onto any surface.

Think of having a robust heads-up display in your car's windshield that overlays Tesla-style self-driving data into your field of view. Add to that a light detection and ranging (lidar) scan of your surroundings coupled with AI-enhanced visual positioning data, and now you have a comprehensive view of the road you even when visibility is reduced in the rain or snow.

We were able to get a hands-on private demo with Distance and can report that the imagery is vivid, fluid and far better than most of the head-up display (HUD) solutions we've seen.

Distance told Kagan that it was partnering with a defense contractor Aechelon Technology, Inc. on a technology called "spatial reality." We were briefed on high-level details of this project, and we encourage industry stakeholders to watch closely for an official announcement of the project in the coming months.

Just outside the room where we met with Distance, a stray robot wearing Nike sneakers made its way across the show floor. It was a demonstration from Auki Labs outlining its robotics navigation solutions. For these robots to find the things humans are looking for and fix the things they need to function, they will need accurate maps and conditions to navigate the world around them.

Other notes from the show:

• Snap reported that it plans to sell lightweight, consumer-grade "Specs" in 2026 after years of selling pricey, bulky developer kit smart glasses.
• Not to be outdone, Shenzhen Yicang Technology Co. Ltd. was talking up the XREAL Project Aura glasses it announced at Google I/O. If the company hits its mark for a release in 2026, Project Aura may be the first device running the Android XR operating system to be sold to the public.
• That designation was once expected to belong to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s project Moohan, which was shown under glass and demoed behind closed doors at the show. There were no new details about pricing or availability.
• Are 3D TVs back? Both Sony Group Corp. and Acer Inc. were showing glasses-free 3D displays at the show. This evolution of the tech works by using a camera to track the user's gaze and then projecting alternating versions of the same image into each eye to create the stereoscopic effect.
• QUALCOMM Inc. announced the AR1+ Gen 1 chipset designed to run small language models on smart glasses.
• Waveguide optics developer Lumus Ltd. talked to us about the challenges smart glasses designers face in shrinking the size and power envelope of their products. To that end, its most recent optical solution shrinks the field of view to 30 degrees to produce longer battery life for the end user.
• Chip IP licensor BrainChip Holdings Ltd. told a similar story about developing a smaller, more efficient component stack for smart glasses. It presented an eye-tracking solution that can draw a fraction of the power of microcontroller-based designs when integrated into next-generation SoCs.
• Waveguide developer Cellid Co. Ltd., based in Japan, has opened an office in Sunnyvale to expand its presence in North America. 

Economics of Streaming Media is a regular feature from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan.