aid: escher-reality
accessModel:
  pricing: unknown
  onboarding: unknown
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  label: Unknown
  confidence: low
  source: []
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/escher-reality.png
name: Escher Reality
description: >-
  Escher Reality was an augmented reality and computer vision startup founded in 2016 by Ross Finman
  (CEO) and Diana Hu (CTO), with roots in the MIT Sandbox program. It built cloud backend services for
  cross-platform, persistent, multi-user mobile AR — shared experiences that neither Apple ARKit nor
  Google ARCore offered at the time — letting multiple users interact with the same virtual objects
  anchored to the real world. The company raised roughly $3 million and was based in Sunnyvale,
  California. In February 2018 Escher Reality was acquired by Niantic (creator of Pokemon GO); its team
  and technology were folded into the Niantic Real World Platform (now Lightship), and the standalone
  company and its developer/SDK offering were discontinued. This API Evangelist profile is retained as a
  historical record; there is no independent, active API or developer surface to enrich.
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/escher-reality/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
x-type: company
x-source: vc-portfolio
x-backed-by:
- uncork-capital
x-tier: stub
x-tier-reason: portfolio-lead
x-status: acquired
x-acquired-by: niantic
x-acquired-date: '2018-02-01'
specificationVersion: '0.20'
created: '2026-07-17'
modified: '2026-07-19'
tags:
- Company
- Augmented Reality
- Computer Vision
- Mobile
- Gaming
- SDK
- Acquired
- Defunct
apis: []
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com
- FN: APIs.json
  email: info@apis.io
x-enrichment:
  date: '2026-07-19'
  status: backfilled
  pass: local-v1
  note: backfilled from .gitignore signal + verified work evidence