[HN Gopher] Infinigen
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       Infinigen
        
       Author : galaxyLogic
       Score  : 292 points
       Date   : 2025-01-19 05:56 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (infinigen.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (infinigen.org)
        
       | markisus wrote:
       | This project generates synthetic computer vision training data.
       | The arxiv paper has more detail including some cool pictures of
       | random creatures it can generate. The images are nice but all of
       | them are nature settings so I assume one would have to supplement
       | this type of data with another data set for training a computer
       | vision model.
        
         | kannonboy wrote:
         | The same authors also created Infinigen Indoors[1] to generate
         | indoor scenes for computer vision applications such as robotics
         | & AR.
         | 
         | [1] https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.11824
        
       | feverzsj wrote:
       | I like the "zero AI" part.
        
       | janalsncm wrote:
       | This seems extremely cool. I'm wondering if it can be used to
       | create procedural video game assets.
        
         | kannonboy wrote:
         | From the homepage it sounds like they've prioritised geometry
         | fidelity for CV research rather than performance:
         | 
         | > Infinigen is optimized for computer vision research,
         | particularly 3D vision. Infinigen does not use bump/normal-
         | maps, full-transparency, or other techniques which fake
         | geometric detail. All fine details of geometry from Infinigen
         | are real, ensuring accurate 3D ground truth.
         | 
         | So I suspect the assets wouldn't be particularly optimised for
         | video games. Perhaps a good starting point though!
        
           | jeffhuys wrote:
           | Well, we've come a long way. Look at nanite - it might
           | actually be compatible...
        
             | mfost wrote:
             | Epic did say that you might in some situations forego
             | normalmaps with Nanite and save disk space even though you
             | have super detailed models so it DOES fit in this context.
             | 
             | Also, video games are used to take a high poly model and
             | bake a normalmap corresponding to it on a lower poly model
             | anyway so it might also be used that way. I think Doom 3
             | was the first game to show the technique?
        
               | ghfhghg wrote:
               | With nanite normal maps are less required than otherwise
               | because the detail is preserved in the mesh. You could
               | make the argument that micro detail normal maps are still
               | useful but those aren't always generated from the mesh.
               | Especially if they are tiling.
        
           | cma wrote:
           | I doubt they prioritized it. To get normal maps you usually
           | first need a high resolution mesh, but then need other steps
           | to get good decimation for lods and normal bake. That's
           | mostly extra work, not alternative work that wasn't
           | prioritized. If by transparency they mean faking aggregates,
           | you also need full geo there before sampling and baking down
           | into planes or some other impostor technique.
        
           | ghfhghg wrote:
           | That's actually a fairly ideal fit for nanite meshes.
        
         | ANewFormation wrote:
         | This looks rather extremely similar to something that Unreal
         | already natively supports. Here is a demo video from them -
         | https://youtube.com/watch?v=8tBNZhuWMac
        
       | saikatsg wrote:
       | Source: https://github.com/princeton-vl/infinigen
        
       | draven wrote:
       | Watching the video I thought "No Man's Sky as a python lib."
        
         | amlib wrote:
         | Also terragen but for everything
        
           | darknavi wrote:
           | I miss terragen! What a fun way to waste an afternoon on a
           | rainy day as a kid.
           | 
           | I just looked it up and WOW it has come a long way (and
           | wasn't it free before? Maybe I misremember).
        
             | tinco wrote:
             | I think it always has had a trial version. Back in the
             | early 2000's my friend and I would mess around with the
             | settings, hit render and then go upstairs to play with
             | lego's or something for a couple of hours, and when it was
             | done it would just be fancy terrain but without details
             | like grass, trees or even rivers I think.
        
       | DidYaWipe wrote:
       | Is what?
        
         | qwertox wrote:
         | "Infinigen is a procedural generator of 3D scenes".
        
           | DidYaWipe wrote:
           | That's not in the title, where it belongs.
           | 
           | Look at all the sibling posts that are done right:
           | 
           | TabBoo - add random jumpscares to websites you're trying to
           | avoid
           | 
           | Stratoshark, a sibling application to Wireshark
           | 
           | Hunyuan3D 2.0 - High-Resolution 3D Assets Generation
           | 
           | Flame: A small language model for spreadsheet formulas
           | 
           | JReleaser: quick and effortless way to release your project
           | 
           | The infantile downvoting of anyone who calls out useless
           | titles just plays into HN's rep. Knock it off.
        
       | dualogy wrote:
       | Also discussed 30 days ago, 33 comments:
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42485423
        
       | nailer wrote:
       | I was very confused by "math rules only" - as opposed to what?
       | But it seems they don't think an LLM is maths. Which it
       | absolutely is.
        
         | dcuthbertson wrote:
         | While mathematics are necessary to build LLMs, they are not a
         | kind of math or a distinct branch of mathematics.
        
           | nailer wrote:
           | Yes I'd agree.
        
       | amarcheschi wrote:
       | It feels like l-systems on mega steroid, cool
        
       | vdjskshi wrote:
       | An LLM frontend for this would be amazing.
       | 
       | You could describe the scene you want in normal english and
       | iterate eith conversation.
       | 
       | It could automatically create scenes from novels and poems.
        
         | lylabs wrote:
         | true, but that's very easy to do as long as the LLM can create
         | the code, which shouldn't be difficult... idk blender's code
         | lang used (i know godot is very python-like), but most code is
         | nowadays some form of cpp (or it is cpp), so with a few-shot it
         | might be even possible to get a cpp trained llm gen the correct
         | code
        
         | aDyslecticCrow wrote:
         | The whole point of this is to generate diverse training data
         | with accurate labels for model training. If you actually want
         | to create nice scenes, use normal blender and some plugins and
         | free online assets.
        
       | culi wrote:
       | If only demoscenes were still as prominent today as they used to
       | be. They'd be having a field day with this
        
       | ginko wrote:
       | Isn't their logo just the (old) Visual Studio logo?
        
       | szundi wrote:
       | Don't seem to be photorealistic images according to today's
       | standards
        
       | w_for_wumbo wrote:
       | This feels like we've got all the pieces of the puzzle to create
       | a reality experience - I'm pretty sure with visuals like this and
       | haptic feedback that your brain will fill in any gaps once you
       | adapt to this given enough time.
       | 
       | You could use this with a VR headset, monitoring heart-beat,
       | temperature and adapt the environment based off the experiencer's
       | desires.
       | 
       | It feels like we're on the precipice of recreating an experience
       | of reality, which may reveal more about our existing reality than
       | we ever expected.
        
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       (page generated 2025-01-22 23:01 UTC)