AI chatbots can spit convincingly – albeit sometimes overconfident — natural language responses, but what if an AI could build custom virtual worlds from just a text description?
Roblox is exploring that possibility with its suite of developer tools, which are designed to make it possible for virtually anyone to build experiences and virtual objects in the youth-centric virtual ecosystem.
The company says it is testing two different implementations of generative AI, one that creates virtual materials from a natural language prompt (the auto-textures in the video below) and another that can create code from text input. Both will be rolling 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. Others may have more experience with model design but less experience with code,” Roblox CTO Daniel Sturman wrote in a blog post. “In both cases, we see a future where even a novice (like myself, for example – I’m a terrible artist!) can hit the ground running as they try to bring their imaginations to life in a Roblox experience.”
In recent years, the company has stated its goal to become the infrastructure for the metaverse – not just the place people go to hang out in virtual worlds, but the toolset they use to build those worlds to begin with . Roblox certainly has some competition (Epic Games, to name one), but AI-based tooling like this could make it an even more compelling platform for budding game developers to build out the popular virtual spaces that make Roblox so tacky in young users.
