This is not about Pokémon . . .

How Pokémon Go’s mapping data came to be

A “player”

• John Hanke, CEO and founder Niantic

• A Google veteran– A founder of Keyhole

• The company Google bought to start Google Earth

• "A lot of us worked on Google Maps and Google Earth for many, many years, so we want the mapping to be good.”

SOURCES: HTTP://MASHABLE.COM/2016/07/10/JOHN-HANKE-POKEMON-GO/#G.LZ3WUXEMQ2WWW.ALLTECHBUZZ.NET

The creation of gym locations

• Niantic asked Ingress players to submit places they thought would make good portals (Beta by Niantic launched in 2011).

SOURCE: HTTP://MASHABLE.COM/2016/07/10/JOHN-HANKE-POKEMON-GO/#G.LZ3WUXEMQ2

The creation of gym locations

• 15 million submissions – 5 million approved– Most popular Ingress

portals became gyms – The next most popular

have become Pokéstops.

SOURCE: HTTP://MASHABLE.COM/2016/07/10/JOHN-HANKE-POKEMON-GO/#G.LZ3WUXEMQ2SOURCE: WWW.GAMENEWSPORTAL.COM

The creation of gym locations

• Users helped create a pool of portal locations based on geo markers– Public artwork– Historical sites– Architectural buildings– Unique local business

SOURCE: HTTP://MASHABLE.COM/2016/07/10/JOHN-HANKE-POKEMON-GO/#G.LZ3WUXEMQ2

“Gotta catch them all”

• Which Pokémon appeared where required other mapping data

SOURCE: HTTP://MASHABLE.COM/2016/07/10/JOHN-HANKE-POKEMON-GO/#G.LZ3WUXEMQ2

“Gotta catch them all”• Geographic markers determined Pokémon habitats.

– "We assign values based on whether there is a water body in an area, whether areas are designated as zoos or parks . . ." - Hanke

• Another data set drawn from geographic classifications

• Climate• Vegetation• Soil• Rock type

SOURCE: HTTP://MASHABLE.COM/2016/07/10/JOHN-HANKE-POKEMON-GO/#G.LZ3WUXEMQ2