AI chatbots can spit out compelling (and sometimes overconfident) natural language responses, but what if AI could build custom virtual worlds based solely on text descriptions? mosquito?
Roblox explores that possibility with its kit of developer tools. It is a youth-focused virtual ecosystem designed to enable nearly everyone to build experiences and virtual objects.
The company says it is testing two different implementations of generative AI. One that creates virtual materials based on natural language prompts (the car texture in the video below) and another that allows you to create code based on text input. Both will roll out to Roblox Studio developers in the coming weeks.
“…Some creators know how to code, but may have limited experience creating high-fidelity 3D models. I’m sorry,” Roblox CTO Daniel Sturman wrote in a blog post. “In both cases, we see a future in which even newbies (like myself – I’m a terrible artist!) looking to bring their imagination to life in the Roblox experience can get a head start.”
In recent years, the company has made clear its goal of becoming the infrastructure of the metaverse. It’s not just where people hang out in virtual worlds, it’s also the toolset they use to build those worlds in the first place. Roblox certainly has competitors (Epic Games, to name a few), but AI-based tools like this make it an even more compelling platform for novice game developers to build virtual spaces that have been a hit. Potentially, Roblox is very entrenched with younger users.
