What’s Your Problem?
Maps have gotten much better over the past few decades. But they’re still mostly two dimensional, and they struggle to keep up with a world that is always changing. Brian McClendon is the Chief Technology Officer of Niantic Spatial, a spinout of the company that makes Pokémon Go. Brian’s problem is this: How do you build a three-dimensional map of the world that both robots and humans can use to find their way?
In this episode, Brian explains:
- What he learned building Google Earth
- How Pokémon Go players helped build the foundation for robot navigation
- What it will take to teach AI to understand the physical world.
- Why GPS is so bad in cities
-  Why trees are such a big problem for digital mapmakers
Connect with us:
- Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
- Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
- Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X
- Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
- To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
3D Printing a Better Rocket
Tim Ellis is the co-founder and CEO of Relativity Space, a company with a unique approach to manufacturing rockets. Tim’s problem is this: How can you use 3D printing to make rockets more efficiently? Eventually,…
-
Using AI to Help Doctors Save Lives
Every year in the U.S., tens of thousands of hospital patients die of preventable causes. For many of these patients, warning signs are subtle and easy for doctors to miss. Suchi Saria is the founder…
-
Making Dam Good Hydropower
Gia Schneider is the co-founder and CEO of Natel Energy, a company that is trying to transform the way hydroelectric power works. Gia’s problem is this: how do you draw hydropower from rivers without damaging…
-
Using AI to Build Better Robots
Peter Chen is the co-founder and CEO of Covariant. Peter’s problem is this: How do you take the AI breakthroughs of the past decade or so, and make them work in robots? Peter was one…
-
Teaching Computers to See
Fei-Fei Li is a Stanford computer scientist and the former chief scientist of artificial intelligence/machine learning at Google Cloud. When Li entered the field of AI in the 2000s, researchers were making slow progress, optimizing…
-
Using Oil-Industry Tech to Create Clean Energy
Tim Latimer is the CEO and co-founder of Fervo Energy, a company that is using a new approach to produce carbon-free geothermal energy. Tim and his company are drawing on innovations from the oil and…
-
Understanding Obesity and Alzheimer’s via Epigenomics
Manolis Kellis is a professor of Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He works in computational biology, taking giant datasets relating to genetics and health outcomes and tries to understand what’s going on.…
-
Reinventing the Restaurant
After working as a chef for decades, Anthony Strong’s dream came true: He opened his own restaurant. His problem was a classic one: Restaurants are bad businesses. So he set out to open a new…
-
The Giant Torch That May Help Save the World
Selling hydrogen to make fertilizer is a huge business. It also drives tons of carbon emissions. Rob Hanson, the co-founder and CEO of a company called Monolith is trying to create hydrogen without emissions —…
-
Fixing Uber’s Broken Culture
Frances Frei and Anne Morriss are the co-founders of a training and consulting company called The Leadership Consortium. Together they specialize in helping leaders build trust within their companies. They also co-host a podcast called…