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Category: entertainment – Page 18

Steam :: Steamworks Development :: AI Content on Steam

Valve has changed its policy and will now allow games made by AI, or that use AI generated content, to be sold on Steam.

Back in June, we shared that while our goal continues to be shipping as many games as possible on Steam, we needed some time to learn about the fast-moving and legally murky space of AI technology, especially given Steam’s worldwide reach. Today, after spending the last few months learning more about this space and talking with game developers, we are making changes to how we handle games that use AI technology. This will enable us to release the vast majority of games that use it.

A robot that can play video games with humans

In recent years, engineers have developed a wide range of robotic systems that could soon assist humans with various everyday tasks. Rather than assisting with chores or other manual jobs, some of these robots could merely act as companions, helping older adults or individuals with different disabilities to practice skills that typically entail interacting with another human.

Researchers at Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan recently developed a new that can play video games with a human user. This robot, introduced in a paper presented at the 11th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction, can play games with users while communicating with them.

“We have been developing robots that can chat while watching TV together, and interaction technology that creates empathy, in order to realize a partner robot that can live together with people in their daily life,” Masayuki Kanbara, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Tech Xplore. “In this paper, we developed a robot that plays TV games together to provide opportunities for people to interact with the robot in their daily lives.”

Metahuman lets you create photorealistic, animated digital humans

When it comes to virtual worlds, one of the most challenging things to create (rivaling real trees, which Eric Ramberg, Chief Content Officer at Quixel, wrote is “the most requested type of asset”) is realistic human characters — especially their faces.

But Epic Games may have created the best solution so far. They have released a new character creation tool in Unreal Engine, called Creator, that helps you render an almost endless selection of near-photorealistic digital people.

“Up until now one of the most arduous tasks in 3D content creation has been constructing truly convincing digital humans. Even the most experienced artists require significant amounts of time, effort, and equipment, just for one character,” said Vladimir Mastilovic, VP, Digital Humans Technology at Epic Games. “That barrier is being erased through Unreal Engine, and we’re thrilled to introduce Creator.”

Launch HN: Rosebud (YC S19) — Turn game descriptions into browser games

Hackernews #1 @Rosebud_AI We’re building a platform to help users go from description to code to game. We aim to make game creation accessible to non-technical creators, so our UI provides explanations alongside the generated code.

Users have created a diverse range of games on Rosebud, including top-down RPGs, AI companions, and 3D obstacle courses, all within a few hours and sometimes minutes. Here are some examples you can play and clone (to start your own project).

* Anime Jester Companion: https://play.rosebud.ai/games/ba438cc4-246e-432e-b170-4e16948cd571 * Chat and Care for your Digital Puppy: https://play.rosebud.ai/games/f32a8159-7acf-4db6-a82c-70296f90bbf1 * Sphere Sync (3D game: align the sphere with the right color): https://play.rosebud.ai/games/96dfd5e1-62d4-47d8-a3e9-11038c8bb5cf * Basketball: https://play.rosebud.ai/games/a0e70622-e923-4517-8c1f-728dcf0db486 * Neon Waltz Generative Art: https://play.rosebud.ai/games/e32bd12b-7cc9-4f9a-b385-42ae0b096466 * Chat with Deku from My Hero Academia: https://play.rosebud.ai/games/716fd998-aab6-4185-8375-85d9eeb2adca

A simple way to think about Rosebud is ChatGPT + Midjourney + Replit. ChatGPT, because we give users a chat interface for this code editor so they can describe the game they want to make and generate game code; Midjourney, because we let users generate assets inside Rosebud, 2D and 3D, to be used in their games; And Replit, because Rosebud includes a browser based code editor that lets you deploy your game instantly.

AI breaks physical boundaries: CyberRunner, the superhuman AI robot

Claim: reinforcement learning AI beats humans in physical domain, playing the “labyrinth” game.

In six hours of training, it solves faster than any human.

Video is fun to watch.

We have created an AI robot named CyberRunner whose task is to learn how to play the popular and widely accessible labyrinth marble game. The labyrinth is a game of physical skill whose goal is to steer a marble from a given start point to the end point. In doing so, the player must prevent the ball from falling into any of the holes that are present on the labyrinth board.

CyberRunner applies recent advances in model-based reinforcement learning to the physical world and exploits its ability to make informed decisions about potentially successful behaviors by planning real-world decisions and actions into the future.

Continue reading “AI breaks physical boundaries: CyberRunner, the superhuman AI robot” | >

Google will pay $700 million to US states, users in Play Store settlement

The deal comes a week after a jury found Google guilty of violating antitrust laws in a similar case brought by Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite game.

As part of the settlement, Google will pay $630 million to refund US consumers overcharged for in-app purchases made through the Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023. The estimated 102 million eligible consumers will receive at least $2 each and may get more depending on their spending. They will be automatically notified about how to claim their money.

Google will also pay $70 million in penalties and other costs to the states involved in the lawsuit.

Besides the monetary compensation, Google has also agreed to make some concessions to app developers and consumers to foster more competition and choice in the Android app market.