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Google has announced Genie 2, an artificial intelligence tool to create immersive, interactive, 3D virtual game keys based on language instructions. Building on its predecessor, Genie 1, this advanced AI introduces interactive virtual environments, offering a revolutionary step forward in game development.
This is a significant step in using artificial intelligence to generate content and represents a significant improvement in possibilities to create engaging VR experiences from a simple text command.
Continuing from Genie 1 which was about populating the scenes to generate 2D images, Genie 2 moves into 3D space. According to Google, Genie 2 is a “world model”, which helps to simulate interactive virtual worlds with animations, physics, and object interactions. Getting meat avatars to work, users type in a textual query, such as “a cyberpunk Western” or “a serene sailing simulation,” and Genie 2 responds with an image-based prompt.
This reference can be generated using Google’s Imagen 3 AI or the Information Concept Art. From there the AI of the game extends the image into a prototypical 3D environment as a game application.
The possibilities are vast: Who is interested in the virtual space travel of the future city or a journey into the medieval dark castle? Where Genie 2 accomplishes this is on the fly, by creating these worlds and providing an opportunity for the players to wander about interactivity.
Google’s demo was based on a regular WASD keyboard layout with an additional option for arrows, so humans or AI could interact with the environment.
Genie 2 is revolutionary, but like any concept, it has its challenges too. At the moment, the generated worlds are not consistent over longer durations and most models hold for only about 20 seconds before coherence collapses.
This is partly because the AI is trying to account for counterfactuals and other potential actions at a crossroads like turning left or right. Maintaining a consistent “long horizon” view remains a technical hurdle.
Despite the limitations of the former, Genie 2 holds a lot of potential to change the game development industry. It empowers developers, designers and tinkerers with a super simple robot creation tool that frees them from the time-consuming, yet confusing, process of complex modeling and coding.
With each passing moment of advancement in AI technology, Google’s Genie 2 is an exciting gateway into the future of game design with worlds restricted just by the mind. Stay tuned, these are just starting to happen.
