While Facebook and Microsoft believe that future interactions and transactions will take place in the metaverse, a completely digital world where people exist as avatars in virtual reality (VR), Niantic founder John Hanke has been searching for a “metaverse of the real world”, using augmented reality (AR) to encourage people to explore their real environment.

Separated from Google in 2015, where Hanke led the Google Earth mapping project, Niantic demonstrated the potential of AR technology by launching the global hit game, pokemon goin collaboration with The Pokémon Company and Nintendo.

Now Niantic is creating an AR map of the world by collecting data and scanning from millions of users. Here, Hanke tells FT tech reporter Cristina Criddle why he wants to improve the real…