Models that generate 3D spaces typically generate them as users move through them without generating a persistent world to be explored later. A new model produces 3D worlds that can be exported and modified.
What’s new: World Labs launched Marble, which generates persistent, editable, reusable 3D spaces from text, images, and other inputs. The company also debuted Chisel, an integrated editor that lets users modify Marble’s output via text prompts and craft spaces environments from scratch.
- Input/output: Text, images, panoramas, videos, 3D layouts of boxes and planes in; Gaussian splats, meshes, or videos out.
- Features: Expand spaces, combine spaces, alter visual style, edit spaces via text prompts or visual inputs, download generated spaces
- Availability: Subscription tiers include Free (4 outputs based on text, images, or panoramas), $20 per month (12 outputs based on multiple images, videos, or 3D layouts), $35 per month (25 outputs with expansion and commercial rights), and $95 per month (75 outputs, all features)
How it works: Marble accepts several media types and exports 3D spaces in a variety of formats.
- The model can generate a 3D space from a single text prompt or image. For more control, it accepts multiple images with text prompts (like front, back, left, or right) that specify which image should map to what areas. Users can also input short videos, 360-degree panoramas, or 3D models and connect outputs to build complex spaces.
- The Chisel editor can create and edit 3D spaces directly. Geometric shapes like planes or blocks can be used to build structural elements like walls or furniture and styled via text prompts or images.
- Generated spaces can be extended by clicking on an area to be extended or connected.
- Model outputs can be Gaussian splats (high-quality representations composed of semi-transparent particles that can be rendered in web browsers), collider meshes (simplified 3D geometries that define object boundaries for physics simulations), and high-quality meshes (detailed geometries suitable for editing). Video output can include controllable camera paths and effects like smoke or flowing water.
Performance: Early users report generating game-like environments and photorealistic recreations of real-world locations.
- Marble generates more complete 3D structures than depth maps or point clouds, which represent surfaces but not object geometries, World Labs said.
- Its mesh outputs integrate with tools commonly used in game development, visual effects, and 3D modeling.
Behind the news: Earlier generative models can produce 3D spaces on the fly, but typically such spaces can’t be saved or revisited interactively. Marble stands out by generating spaces that can be saved and edited. For instance, in October, World Labs introduced RTFM, which generates spaces in real time as users navigate through them. Competing startups like Decart and Odyssey are available as demos, and Google’s Genie 3 remains a research preview.
Why it matters: World Labs founder and Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li argues that spatial intelligence — understanding how physical objects occupy and move through space — is a key aspect of intelligence that language models can’t fully address. With Marble, World Labs aspires to catalyze development in spatial AI just as ChatGPT and subsequent large language models ignited progress in text processing.
We’re thinking: Virtual spaces produced by Marble are geometrically consistent, which may prove valuable in gaming, robotics, and virtual reality. However, the objects within them are static. Virtual worlds that include motion will bring AI even closer to understanding physics.