Photos and scans from Pokemon Go players have created a dataset of more than 30 billion real-world images, a staggering collection now being repurposed to help delivery robots navigate streets without traditional GPS systems.

The implications are extraordinary: millions of players, walking their neighborhoods in pursuit of virtual creatures, inadvertently mapped the physical world with unprecedented detail and precision.

“People thought they were catching Pikachu,” said one researcher familiar with the project. “Turns out they were also training robots the whole time.”

The data encompasses street-level photography from virtually every major city on Earth, creating what experts describe as the most comprehensive visual map of human infrastructure ever assembled.

Now, Pokemon GPS brings that mapped world back to the players. A free-to-use 3D globe lets users explore 55 cities worldwide, hunt Pokemon in Google Street View, and compete on a global leaderboard — all without downloading an app.