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Odyssey, a startup co-founded by self-driving technology experts Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, is developing an AI-powered tool called Explorer. This tool can turn text or images into interactive 3D scenes, similar to the world models demonstrated by DeepMind and others. For example, a caption like “a Japanese garden with lush green foliage” can be transformed into a real-time scene.
Odyssey claims that Explorer is “particularly tuned” for creating high-quality, photorealistic scenes. The AI behind Explorer was trained using real-world landscapes captured by Odyssey’s custom-designed, 360-degree, backpack-mounted camera system. Any scene generated by Explorer can be loaded into creative tools like Unreal Engine, Blender, and Adobe After Effects for further editing. It uses a technique called Gaussian splats, a volume-rendering method that is widely supported in computer graphics.
“While still in its early stages, we’re excited about the level of detail and realism Explorer can already achieve, and its potential for live-action films, hyper-realistic gaming, and new entertainment forms,” Odyssey wrote in a blog post. Although still a work in progress, generative world motion in 3D holds promise for enabling artists to create and manipulate motion in new and more realistic ways.
Explorer does have some limitations, such as taking about 10 minutes to generate scenes and producing relatively low-resolution images with occasional visual artifacts. However, Odyssey has already started providing Explorer to production houses like Garden Studios in the U.K. and a growing group of independent artists. Those interested in trying Explorer can apply on Odyssey’s blog.
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While there are mixed feelings about tools like Explorer, especially in industries like video games and film, Odyssey insists that it’s committed to collaborating with creative professionals, not replacing them. To strengthen this commitment, the company recently announced that Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar and former president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, has joined its board of directors and invested in Odyssey.
“Generative world models represent a new frontier in artificial intelligence,” Odyssey wrote. “We aim to create worlds that build themselves and feel indistinguishable from reality, where new stories are born and remixed, where human and machine intelligence interact for fun or purpose. If our only achievement is slightly better films or games, we will have fallen short.”
Oliver Cameron was previously VP of product at Cruise, while Jeff Hawke was a founding researcher at Wayve. To date, Odyssey has raised $27 million from investors, including EQT Ventures, GV, and Air Street Capital.