This Dreamlike Video Generator Makes Interactive AI Really feel Like a Lo-Fi Acid Journey

We discuss rather a lot about AI hallucinations these days—and for good cause. “Hallucinations” is mainly AI-speak for “making sh*t up,” and more often than not—like in the case of web search, which depends on surfacing actual, helpful info—that’s a Very Unhealthy Factor. I don’t assume I’m alone once I say AI shouldn’t be recommending that we put glue on our pizza, even when we all know sufficient to not really try this.

However hallucinating doesn’t all the time need to be dangerous. Generally, similar to in actual life, it may be a heck of a lot of fun, and Odyssey, a brand new firm making an attempt to pioneer interactive AI video, is making a reasonably stable case for the enjoyable aspect of issues. Don’t take my phrase for it—see for your self.

Introducing AI video you’ll be able to watch and work together with, in real-time!

Powering this can be a new world mannequin that imagines and streams video frames each 40ms(!). No recreation engine in sight.

We name it interactive video, and it is free for anybody to attempt proper now (GPUs allowing)! pic.twitter.com/QtADRXCQ8z

— Odyssey (@odysseyml) May 28, 2025

Odyssey is precisely as the corporate describes—a web-based world the place you’ll be able to stream AI-generated video. Not like different video turbines like Google’s Veo 3, which requires utilizing a textual content immediate to create a video you can solely watch, Odyssey generates an entire world you can really discover utilizing your keyboard. Should you’re studying this and pondering, “Isn’t that Minecraft or any variety of world-generating video games on the market?” apparently there really is a distinction, based on Odyssey. There isn’t any recreation engine—the entire worlds are being generated in actual time as you discover them. Per Odyssey, it “streams video frames each 40ms” for a repeatedly generated expertise.

As a follower of video technology and AI, I naturally jumped straight into making an attempt out Odyssey for myself, and the “recreation,” when you can name it that, is bizarre in one of the best ways doable. For now, every little thing in Odyssey could be very lo-fi, which for many interactive apps (AI-generated or in any other case) can be a nasty factor, however on this case, it form of works. It leans into the need for a low body fee to ship hazy, virtually dreamlike worlds. It’s like when you took 3D imagery from Google Maps, funneled it right into a VCR, after which performed it again after freebasing some experimental new analysis chemical constituted of thermal paste. (Disclaimer: Please don’t attempt that at dwelling, of us.) The entire thing, as you may think, is fairly buggy, too. Environments render and generally disappear, making the entire thing much more hallucinatory than it already is.

Utilizing your keyboard WASD-style to discover the worlds is decidedly a gradual, plodding expertise, however I can’t say I’m notably mad about that. All the things in Odyssey feels experimental to an extent, and the fuzzy nature of scanning by way of worlds with an virtually radio-like tuner comes off as extra of an aesthetic alternative, even when it’s really a technical necessity. That doesn’t imply the creators of Odyssey—backed by Pixar cofounder Edwin Catmull, as noted by The Verge—aren’t trying to up the visible ante. A next-gen model of Odyssey is already within the pipeline, although it’s onerous to say when that can materialize and the way a lot of a visible enchancment will probably be

For now, the expertise is precisely what it must be—it’s attention-grabbing and glitchy. I’m positive issues are sure to get extra complicated and possibly extra convoluted as they progress, however these are the early phases we will really respect with out having to overthink it. I do know AI-generated video is in an odd state proper now, however when you’ve obtained the time, I like to recommend taking a bizarre, disjointed stroll by way of Odyssey. It would simply be the one AI video expertise that doesn’t fill you with dread right now.