Nvidia is going beyond chatbots and screen-based tools with spatial AI, making it a reality in the real world. From the heart of this push sits the company’s Omniverse platform, through which AI models can engage with the physical world as much as humans can.
Through what Nvidia calls “digital twins,” these AI systems can simulate real-world spaces like factories, warehouses, and even city streets. Virtual versions of these environments are used to train AI models to do things like autonomous driving, guide visually impaired people, and automate actions in warehouses, all of which are run by Nvidia.
For Nvidia, one of the hottest topics at its GPU Technology Conference is AI.
“We’re talking about chatbots and generating images,” said Rev Lebaredian, vice president of Omniverse and simulation technology at Nvidia. “All of it is very important, but the things we take for granted around us in the physical world are far more important,” he said in an interview.
Digital Twins and real-rorld AI interaction
It’s not just about virtual assistants; spatial AI is about building the physical world AI.
According to a report by CNBC, Lebaredian described how Nvidia’s technology can help create “robot brains” by first simulating the physical world in a computer environment, which then trains the AI for real-world tasks.
If robots like these can be made, they could change everything from manufacturing to logistics to even home automation. Other companies, like Stanford’s World Labs, also work with models interacting with the three-dimensional world around us.
Transforming physical spaces with AI
Nvidia’s future is not limited to the hookup of humanoid robots … it’s the physical transformation of spaces to accommodate intelligent machines. ‘Even the spaces we live in, they could be robots as well … like the building I’m in actually, so the building — the building could be cool, they could change the temperature of the building to economize the energy use, economy of the energy use, based on the fact that I’m here,’ Lebaredian said.
Companies like Nvidia partner Globant, which envision how physical environments could adapt to allow for robots like wider doors and ramps rather than stairs, are based on the CNBC report.
The future of AI in the real world
In the next few years, it is expected to usher in a transition toward spatial AI that could completely transform the way industries work. Lebaredian believes that this technology will be “the most impactful and transformational technology the world has ever seen.” AI is poised to reshape our world in robot-driven factories, smarter cities, and even smarter homes.
Image credits: Emre Çıtak/Ideogram AI