Dec 3, 2024 - Technology

Fei-Fei Li's startup turns photos into 3D worlds

Ina Fried

World Labs can take an image (left) and turn it into a navigable 3-D world (right). Images: World Labs

Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li, dubbed the "godmother" of AI, on Monday released an early peek at what her AI startup has been working on: an engine that can turn still images into realistic three-dimensional worlds.

Why it matters: Li is focused on the intersection of generative AI and the physical world, a challenging but potentially lucrative area.

Driving the news: In an interactive blog post, Li's World Labs demonstrated its approach, sharing examples of realistic photos and fantasy images being turned into 3D worlds, including one based on a Van Gogh painting.

The post shows a variety of two-dimensional images next to the navigable 3D spaces produced from them, which visitors can tour using their keyboards.
World Labs also showed the ability to shift focus and add other effects.
"This will change how we make movies, games, simulators, and other digital manifestations of our physical world," the company's post said.

Catch-up quick: World Labs unveiled itself in September, announcing it had received $230 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, NEA and Radical Ventures, alongside a list of prominent tech executives, celebrity investors and corporate venture arms.

The company is still small, with just over 20 employees and an office in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood.

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Fei-Fei Li's startup turns photos into 3D worlds

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