Niantic, Shueisha Tie Up for App to Bring Manga Characters to Life

Silicon Valley, Nov. 8 (Jiji Press)--U.S. software firm Niantic Inc., developer of the Pokemon Go smartphone game, said Monday it will open up a platform allowing companies to develop apps with augmented reality technologies. Niantic also revealed that through a tie-up with Japanese publisher Shueisha Inc., it will release next year an app that will help the world of manga come alive in AR. This app is expected to feature popular manga characters, including those from the blockbuster manga series "One Piece." The platform to be made available by Niantic is used for the Pokemon Go app. The U.S. firm will also offer related developer kit tools. Companies developing AR apps will be able to use technologies that recognize the space and structures captured on smartphone cameras to seamlessly blend computer graphics into the setting. A promotion video unveiled during an event showed characters and a ship from the One Piece manga series virtually coming to life on smartphones. Niantic also teamed up with Japanese mobile phone carrier SoftBank Corp. <9434> and Japanese home information website operator Lifull Co. <2120>. "Transforming humanity's relationship with technology by merging the physical and virtual worlds will require the ideas and perspectives of as many people as possible," Niantic CEO John Hanke said. END