Kingdom Hearts II Those pods in Data Twilight Town

Well it is a secret lab. It's not like they were expecting Donald, Goofy, and Sora to come so there was no way of them knowing that they would need exactly three pods.

 

I think they HAVE been used before. I remember examining them at that part in the game, and it saying something like 'It looks like this has been used before'. So I think they do hold some sort of significance, we just don't know what it is yet.

 

I remember reading somewhere that the pods were used by the Organization to perform experiments on memories. (I guess they used themselves as guinea pigs.) If it's true, it would explain why the pods seemed to have been used before, but not for a long time.
But I don't remember where I read that, so I don't know if it's even plausible.

If it's useful, these are all the descriptions of all the pods in the Basement Corridor except the ones Donald and Goofy slept in:
"There's evidence this was used before."
"This hasn't been used in a while."
"This looks like it could still be used."
"It seems only the power is on."
"Who built this? And for what purpose?"

The descriptions make me think that the pods were important somehow, and maybe they'll be important in the future. (Since it mentioned that one could still be used.) Maybe it will be explained in one of the new games.
Or maybe they're just for the background and they mean nothing.

 

I think they were just spares. There's a chance there were other people, but who? That can't be answered.