Niantic Spatial and Spexi Geospatial today announced a strategic partnership bringing
together Spexi’s next-generation aerial data network with Niantic Spatial’s industry leading reconstruction technology, turning drone imagery into large-scale 3D intelligence for physical AI on demand.
Under the partnership, both companies’ customers will access Niantic Spatial’s industry-leading 3D modeling pipeline through its Reconstruction API. Customers can commission drone captures and receive high-fidelity, geometrically accurate 3D reconstructions, in the form of 3D Gaussian splats, accessible through a Niantic Spatial Viewer and measurement tool embedded within the Spexi World platform. Geo-referenced with coordinates, they can be easily dropped into a map of a large area.
Spexi has also been chosen as a preferred drone imagery provider for training Niantic Spatial’s real-world foundation models for physical AI, expanding coverage to city-scale data and beyond. These metric scale 3D reconstructions of physical environments stitch together multiple drone scans of real-world spaces to make intelligent models. Grounded in geometry, they are applicable for simulation, location, and training.
“For physical AI to work in the real world, it needs a foundation grounded in reality. Combining Spexi’s capture network with our reconstruction technology and real-world models gets us significantly closer to that and delivers real operational value for our customers,” said Inhi Cho Suh, CEO, Niantic Spatial. “Until now, high-quality 3D reconstruction has largely operated at the scale of an object or building. This partnership takes it to city scale and more.”
Spexi operates an advanced aerial data network that has attracted more than 10,000 drone pilots, and mapped over six million acres at 2.8 cm resolution – ten times sharper than satellite imagery – using autonomous and standardized flight protocols optimized for machine learning. At the same time, Niantic Spatial’s reconstruction pipeline has been calibrated to Spexi’s capture workflows, ensuring every flight yields maximum quality output.
“Together, Spexi and Niantic Spatial deliver a drone-to-3D pipeline that will redefine the next generation of physical AI, unlocking more accurate, up-to-date, and immersive representations of the built environment,” said Bill Lakeland, CEO, Spexi. “Partnering with Niantic Spatial means customers can now go from raw imagery to actionable 3D intelligence in one seamless workflow. That’s a step change in what drone data can achieve for real-world applications.”
Use cases include infrastructure inspection, insurance risk assessment, energy site analysis, asset management, and 3D measurement. Built for enterprises where spatial insight drives real decisions, the partnership delivers industry-leading levels of detail and a scalable architecture designed for city-scale reconstruction.
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About Spexi:
Spexi Geospatial is a Vancouver-based technology company revolutionizing Earth imagery through its global network of drone pilots. By utilizing automated drone systems and cutting-edge software, Spexi delivers ultra-high-resolution aerial imagery that is up to 30x higher resolution than traditional options, at centimeter level accuracies, and in areas as small as 25 acres. This imagery supports organizations and companies in disaster preparedness, smart city planning, infrastructure inspection, resource monitoring, gaming, and countless other AI applications. Spexi has raised $20.5M USD from investors, including Blockchange Ventures, FJ Labs, Protocol Labs, Moonshots Capital, and Alliance.
About Niantic Spatial:
Niantic Spatial is building the real-world model for physical AI. We give robots, AI agents, and people an accurate, shared understanding of physical spaces — making operations safer and more efficient across some of the world’s most demanding environments. Our reconstruction technology captures environments with geometric accuracy and extreme detail from any standard camera; the Visual Positioning System delivers precise positioning almost anywhere in the world. Niantic Spatial serves customers in robotics, public sector, and energy and industrial. nianticspatial.com
