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How to Use the Geospatial Browser (BETA)

The Geospatial Browser allows you to search and find VPS-Activated locations across the globe. You can select the locations you want to use for your project and download the associated 3D mesh assets.

Prerequisites​

You must have an account set up on https://lightship.dev.

Steps​

The Geospatial Browser
  1. Access the Geospatial Browser
    1. Go to https://lightship.dev.
    2. Click Sign-In in the upper right corner.
    3. This should take you to the Dashboard. On the left-hand menu, click Geospatial Browser.
  2. Select a VPS-Activated location.
    1. Navigate the map to find a location or use the Search bar at the upper right of the map to find a particular location.
    2. Select a location. This will show you the associated mesh.
  3. Download the Mesh.
    1. Once you’ve selected a location, click Download Mesh.Default Anchor
    2. This will download a zip file to your browser’s download directory.
      tip

      Leave the package zipped for use with the VPS Authoring Assistant in Unity.

  4. To load the mesh, see How to Place Content in Real-World Locations Using Location AR.

Using Filters​

The category filter (lower left button on the Geospatial Browser map view) allows you to search through various types of locations.

Category Filter

You can choose to filter on:

  • Objects: Objects include benches, water fountains, signs, trail markers, etc.
  • Sports/Rec: Indoor and outdoor locations such as sports fields, stadiums, bowling alleys, ice or roller rinks, etc.
  • Art: Indoor and outdoor pieces of art, from photographs to statues and murals.
  • Buildings: Buildings including offices, restaurants, retail establishments, government buildings, etc.
  • Outdoors: Outdoor locations such as gardens, urban plazas, playgrounds, hiking trails, bodies of water, etc.
  • Transportation: Train stations, bus terminals, footbridges, etc.
  • Other: Other types of VPS Locations.

On the bottom of the screen you can also see filters for VPS location quality and activation:

  • Production Quality/Experimental Quality: After a location has been VPS activated, Niantic provides a quality rating in the Geospatial Browser. Location details display either Production Quality or Experimental Quality. Quality refers to the location's ability to localize at any time. Locations with several scans in all types of lighting tend to have production quality. Locations with minimum required scans or a majority of scans in one type of lighting tend to have experimental quality. Use the Production Quality filter to ensure the best performance for VPS and location detection when you go test your app out in the wild.
  • Private: Private locations are only accessible to your Workspace by scanning the location using Niantic’s Wayfarer app. Private locations are intended for use during development and may not be included in a published project.
  • Not Activated: Locations with a status of Not Activated have not had any scans submitted for the location. A minimum of 10 viable scans must be submitted for the location before you will be able to request activation. After one scan is submitted the status will change to Scanning.

Location Tags​

In the Geospatial Browser location detail view, you will see four different types of locations:

  • Public: Public locations have been approved by Niantic’s Trust & Safety team and have met the required criteria of safety and public accessibility. These locations may be used in published projects.
  • Pending: Pending locations are being reviewed by Niantic’s Trust & Safety team to determine if they meet the required criteria of safety and public accessibility. This process can take up to 2 business days. Pending locations can be scanned and activated while waiting for the review to complete.
  • Rejected: Rejected locations may have failed Niantic’s Trust & Safety review, be a duplicate of an existing or previously rejected location, or may not be allowed by Niantic for another reason. These locations cannot be added to projects.
  • Private: Private locations are only accessible to your Workspace by scanning the location using Niantic’s Wayfarer app. Private locations are intended for use during development and may not be included in a published project.

Browsing 3D Meshes​

How well a mesh covers a given location varies. Some meshes may only cover a strip of road, or grass, while other meshes cover a much larger percentage of the location. You may need to browse several meshes before you find the one that suits your needs. (We are working on improving mesh quality in the future).

Some meshes are marked as Unaligned.

Unaligned Mesh
note

An unaligned mesh is less reliable than an aligned mesh and you should use it at your own risk.