SoftBank Corp. is First Carrier in Japan to Adopt
Niantic Lightship Augmented Reality Developer Kit
(ARDK)

SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”) today announced it will be the first telecommunications carrier in Japan to adopt the Niantic Lightship Augmented Reality Developer Kit (“Niantic Lightship ADRK”) provided by California-based Niantic, Inc. (“Niantic”). SoftBank will utilize Niantic Lightship ADRK for its content delivery service offerings, which include 5G LAB, AR SQUARE and other apps. SoftBank will also collaborate with Niantic to spread the adoption of the Niantic Lightship ARDK in Japan, with the aim of supporting developer activities and building a license provision framework that leverages the strengths of SoftBank's enterprise sales network.

Niantic Lightship ARDK is a set of tools that enables developers to make AR experiences even more immersive. The developer kit utilizes Meshing and Occlusions to layer AR objects onto real world spaces captured with smartphone cameras using “physics,” Realtime Multiplayer for shared AR experiences, and Semantic Segmentation to automatically distinguish between natural objects captured with smartphone cameras and AR objects so each object is portrayed realistically, among other advanced tools.

SoftBank will fully utilize 5G communications and sophisticated AR technologies to deliver cutting-edge AR experiences to its customers.

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