Peridot

The first ever fully-AR location-based game, Peridot launched to bring players the chance to adopt and interact with magical pets called ‘Dots’. Each Dot is procedurally generated with 100% unique DNA, resulting in countless variations of creature looks: the number of variations surpasses the number of stars in the universe.

Peridot is powered by Niantic’s Lightship AR platform to deliver a game that is experienced fully in augmented reality. Thanks to years of computer vision and AI research, breakthroughs like real-time mapping, obstacle occlusion, and semantic segmentation mean Peridots can interact with real-world surroundings in remarkably realistic ways and get smarter over time. It means players can feed, pet, and play with them.

Peridot is harnessing the potential of augmented reality, merging virtual worlds with reality in a believable way. Simple camera movements reveal digital creatures within actual environments, offering an immersive experience unlike any other. Despite the impressive capabilities of AR on a visual level, the personality traits of virtual characters within previous AR games were not individual or unique. But in November 2023, the Peridot development team shared a new update that added generative AI capabilities to the game, making the title the world’s first AR game to use gen AI at scale.

This update means gen AI can use info about the Dot – its personality, the context of where it is in the world, and what it sees – to determine how it will react to the situation, making each reaction unique in and of itself.

The highly advanced capabilities of this game create a fun, exciting and interactive experience for users of all ages. But what’s most significant is that Peridot marks an evolutionary and innovative turning point in modern gaming – one where AR and gen AI merge to create something that sets a new benchmark, particularly as mixed reality hardware becomes more prevalent.