Oasis An Interactive AI Experience Transforming Minecraft.
Editor’s perspective: In Ernest Cline’s 2015 book Ready Player One, the “Oasis” was a virtual dystopia filled with life-like graphics and countless Delorean replicas searching for hidden Easter eggs. In the AI-driven dystopia of Etched, Oasis transforms into an interactive model that allows players to engage with a distorted vision of the most chaotic Minecraft universe ever conceived.
Cupertino-based startup Etched has recently launched Oasis, touted as the pioneering AI experiment capable of generating open-world gaming environments. Collaborating with Decart, Oasis creates an improbable Minecraft experience that is constructed frame-by-frame, with each new frame being influenced by player interactions and the preceding frame.
Oasis appears as a low-resolution version of Minecraft affected by dementia, evident in its jumbled interpretations of the original pixelated artwork. Etched expresses “excitement” about introducing this AI-infused surreal experience to users, indicating that upcoming interactive ventures will significantly improve and eventually support 4K graphics thanks to innovative AI acceleration hardware.
The creators trained Oasis using an extensive collection of recorded Minecraft gameplay videos. The end product operates without a game engine, logic, or coding. This refined interactive model is powered by Sohu, a new AI ASIC technology under development by Etched. The current Oasis version can produce its Minecraft-like visuals at 360p and 20 frames per second with Nvidia’s H100 GPUs. With Sohu, it can scale up to 4K resolution, supporting 10 users per H100.
good point! we don’t think its better than the original game of course, but its different. for us its mainly a showcase for what can be done with real-time AI content generation. think about imagining something and then creating/interacting with it instantly etc
– Decart (@DecartAI) November 1, 2024
The developers are also focusing on AI-generated interactive video content, given that approximately 70 percent of internet traffic is video-based. Current video models are advancing toward creating entire physical worlds and games, unlocking new products and opportunities for both professional and amateur developers.
“Whether in gaming, generative content, or education, we believe that large, low-latency, interactive video models will play a crucial role in the next generation of AI products,” stated Etched.
At present, most models struggle with speed and cost-effectiveness in production settings. However, specialized chips like Sohu promise to enhance performance significantly. Etched is concurrently developing its new AI video models and Sohu chip design to capitalize on this promising wave of “exciting” AI innovations.
When questioned about the appeal of spending time on a copyright-infringing creation that resembles a psychedelic version of Minecraft instead of playing the original game, Decart AI explained that the interactive experience is not meant to surpass the original. Oasis aims to illustrate what real-time AI content generation can do in its early stages. The model does not violate copyright laws, as open-source projects inspired by Minecraft, such as Minetest, have flourished without any DMCA actions from Mojang.
