Just reading through the docs and something occurred to me. Are there no more public wayspots/VPS activated locations? Is the way to work with VPS now only through self made scans that are submitted through the scaniverse app?
If so, is this VPS2 only? And when do VPS 1 spots stop working (or are they already dead now)?
Hi Tom,
Thank you for reaching out.
At the moment, the public map is no longer available, and locations can only be accessed through the Scaniverse Portal by you and members of your Organization.
As of mid-April with the release of 4.0, VPS1 is no longer supported, and new projects should target VPS2. However, the transition to VPS2 should be largely seamless.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns. I’m always happy to help.
Kind regards,
Maverick L.
Gotcha, that’s for the clarification. I haven’t been paying as close attention as I should be.
Will we see a resurrection of “well known” VPS locations? Or is the plan to permanently move to private VPS spots, even when dealing with public spaces?
Hi Tom,
This is something we’re currently evaluating. I don’t think there has been a concrete plan to completely move away from public locations being available, though.
Are you currently working on a project that was meant to target the public map?
Kind regards,
Maverick L.
Yes. My understanding was as the community scanned more public places, the more complete the map would get and the less the community would have to scan.
One feature we have always planned for is permanent user generated content, i.e. leave content for others to come see/experience/make videos with. When I started the foundation of this, VPS and the public nature are what drew me in. Now, I’ve been less active because I realized that people needed way more AR education, so I’ve trimmed all the VPS features and Shared AR features for a simple “decorate your world and make a video”. The current build just uses plan old AR, not VPS, to position the content.However, user are already asking, “Can I leave content in the real world for others to see?” And I tell them, “Yes, when I turn that feature back on.”
They also ask, “Can my friends and I decorate the world together?” To this I say, “In famous places in the real world, yes, when I turn it on. To do so locally, one would have to scan then build.” They like the sound of the first, but the sound of the second starts to scare them.
I’m going after everyday consumers though, not technically savvy, not AR enthusiasts, nor spatial computing experts. I know you have shifted drastically. While that makes me sad, I realize that I likely can’t change that.
Niantic’s gotta do what Niantic’s gotta do, but I think if both were still available, a year from now, we’d be powering an amazing product for a large set of users who are discovering AR for the first time on their phone in anticipation of AR glasses that are coming.
I completely understand where you’re coming from, and honestly, I think your perspective is very valid.
The original vision around VPS and the shared public map was incredibly compelling because it lowered the barrier for persistent, shared AR experiences in a way that felt magical to everyday users. “Leave something in the world for others to discover” is a very intuitive concept, and I agree that it resonates much more naturally with consumers than workflows that require local scanning, mapping, and coordination.
I also think your observation about AR education is important. A lot of developers, especially those targeting broader consumer audiences, realized they had to simplify experiences significantly before users were ready for more advanced spatial workflows. What you described — starting with lightweight decorating/creation experiences and gradually layering shared persistence back in — honestly makes a lot of sense strategically.
The shift toward VPS2 and more organization-owned/location-owned mapping came from a combination of technical, scalability, and product direction considerations, but I understand why the reduced emphasis on the public/shared community map feels disappointing, especially for projects like yours that were built around that original promise.
And to your point, I do think there’s still a real appetite for persistent, shared AR experiences tied to real places — especially as AR glasses become more mainstream over time. The desire for “can my friends and I leave things in the world together?” hasn’t gone away at all. If anything, that vision is still one of the most exciting parts of spatial computing.
I genuinely appreciate you sharing your perspective and the context around your product direction. Feedback like this is valuable because it highlights the difference between what is technically possible versus what feels approachable and magical for everyday users.
Best of luck with future development,
Maverick L.
Hi Tom,
Following back up with you on this. I was informed that there are some plans for bringing back public POIs, but that’s all the information I can share at this moment, there’s no solid timeline as of now.
Thank you Maverick and Jesus for your thoughtful replies. I’m still a firm believer in Niantic and its goals. I’m especially very interested in the cross platform nature of VPS across mobile, Spectacles and Quest. Part of my promise to my customers is: “Create content on mobile today. I’ll make sure it works on AR glasses tomorrow.” The more platforms you support, the more truth there is to those words.
While the end users of my app are consumers, my biz plan looks towards great partnerships with brands who seek to have engaging digital experiences with their customers that are far more interactive than traditional media. I believe that public POIs will be key to the success of that. I look forward to hearing more news of that as it comes.
I look forward to diving deeper into VPS2 and the latest NSDK later this summer.
Thanks again,
Tom
Hi Tom,
Sure thing! Glad we can be of assistance. While there’s no timeline on this as mentioned earlier I’d recommend just keeping up to date on what we’re doing by following us on socials if you use social media and we look forward to seeing what you think about the new VPS and NSDK once you get a chance to check them out!