Niantic's Peridot Evolves Into a Navigating, Emotionally Aware AI Companion

• Peridot can now guide users through real-world spaces, using visual input and smart pathfinding to navigate.
• It also responds with emotional awareness, thanks to a new integration with Hume AI’s real-time dialogue system.

Peridot, Niantic’s AI companion that uses AR to understand the world and talk to users, just got an upgrade. At Snap’s Lens Fest, Niantic debuted a new demo that adds real-world navigation and emotionally aware conversation to the virtual pet. In this version, Peridot can guide users to locations, point out sights along the way, and talk naturally with emotional context. The same demo is also being tested at Niantic Spatial offices in San Francisco, London, Seattle, and Tokyo.

Peridot combines visual input from Snap Spectacles with the location awareness from Niantic’s Visual Positioning System (VPS). It also uses a custom system that turns 2D floor plans into pathfinding maps, helping it avoid obstacles and follow real-world routes. This results in an AI that doesn’t just know where it is, but can walk with you through a space, showing and telling as it goes.

Peridot's new emotional context means it can respond based not just on what users say, but how they say it. This is powered by Hume AI’s technology, which enables sub-second dialogue that reacts to tone, emotion, and intent. The goal is to make conversations feel less robotic and more like talking to a thoughtful, responsive companion.

Peridot brings a next-generation wayfinding experience to Snap's AR glasses. One where Niantic says introduces "a companion in a new city isn’t a blue arrow on a screen, but a character who walks alongside you, sharing stories about architecture and pointing out hidden gems you’d otherwise miss."

🌀 Tom’s Take:

Niantic Spatial is reimagining navigation, taking advantage of AI and AR to embody wayfinding in a way that’s both helpful and heartfelt.

Source: Niantic

Disclosure: Tom Emrich has previously worked with or holds interests in companies mentioned. His commentary is based solely on public information and reflects his personal views.