A startup is training an AI system that it claims allows creators to generate cinematic worlds with full control over scenery, characters, lighting, and motion. how? Have a human carry a camera on their back and take them hiking around the world.
Founded by self-driving pioneers Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke (Cameron previously served as vice president of products for Cruise), Odyssey delivers data almost anywhere a person can reach. The company says it has developed an “advanced camera capture system” that can collect Weighing approximately 25 pounds, the system includes six cameras, two LIDAR sensors, and an inertial measurement unit.
Similar to Google's Street View Trekker, the system can capture its surroundings in “3.5K resolution” and 360 degrees, with “physically accurate” depth information metadata attached.
So what does it mean? Odyssey says it takes data from the system and feeds it to algorithms that “capture the details that make up our world.” Essentially, the company follows Meta's Hyperscape project to generate digital reconstructions of real-world scenes such as forests, caves, trails, beaches, glaciers, parks, buildings, and more.
One of the scenes from the Odyssey. Image credit: Odyssey
At this point, it's not entirely clear how these reconfigurations will translate into better generative tools for creatives. Cameron and Hawke previously explained that Odyssey generates several layers of visual detail, such as object geometry, lighting, and motion, and combines them into a single virtual “world” to create the desired scene. He said he has developed an AI model.
But even today's best “world model” has its limitations, and the Odyssey does not claim to have solved them all. Still, it has secured cash to move forward.
Odyssey today announced that it has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round led by EQT Ventures with participation from GV and Air Street Capital. The new funding, which brings the company's total funding to $27 million, will be used to expand Odyssey's data collection operations in California.
Odyssey plans to expand data collection to other states and countries in the future, with privacy protections in place. (One example: Google's Street View team found itself in the crosshairs of regulators for taking images of public places that violated the privacy of bystanders.)
“It is impossible for generative models to create Hollywood-quality worlds that feel alive without being trained on vast amounts of rich, multimodal, real-world 3D data,” the company said in a blog post. I think so.” “We believe that advanced generative worldbuilding models will unlock better ways to create movies, games, and more.”